He did not live up to the sky-high expectations but India's Bajrang Punia will return from Tokyo with a bronze medal on Olympic debut after outwitting Daulet Niyazbekov in the play-off here on Saturday.
If his defence let him down in the semifinal against Hazi Aliev, Bajrang's smart attacking moves made him a 8-0 winner against Kazakhstan's Niyazbekov, to whom he had lost in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championship.
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With Bajrang's medal, Indian wrestlers have matched their best performance at the Olympic Games. At the 2012 London Games, Sushil Kumar won a silver and Yogeshwar Dutt returned with a bronze.
With his podium, India also equalled their best ever Olympic medal haul of six achieved in the 2012 London edition.
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Bajrang had defeated Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev and Iran's Morteza Cheka Ghiasi before losing to Hazai Aliev from Azerbaijan in the semifinals on Friday.
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