Rome: Ace India grappler Bajrang Punia started 2020 with a bang as he bagged a gold medal by defeating American Jordan Michael Oliver 4-3 in the 65kg freestyle category at the Ranking Series here on Saturday.
- Bajrang started with a closely-fought first-round bout against Allen Rutherford of the US, which he ended up winning 5-4. He then faced Rutherford's compatriot Joseph Christopher McKenna in the quarterfinal and won 4-2.
- He then beat Ukraine's Vasyl Shuptar 6-4 to assure himself of a spot in the final where he defeated Jordan Michael Oliver to bag gold medal.
- With the win, Bajrang won his fourth gold at the Ranking Series event.
Moments after losing his bout against the Indian, Oliver congratulated Bajrang and appreciated his competitive spirit. “Wasnt my night… but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend,” the American tweeted.
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Wasnt my night... but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be ! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend!
— Jordan Oliver (@that_dude_JO) January 18, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Wasnt my night... but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be ! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend!
— Jordan Oliver (@that_dude_JO) January 18, 2020Wasnt my night... but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be ! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend!
— Jordan Oliver (@that_dude_JO) January 18, 2020
Meanwhile, Jitender (74kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) was knocked out earlier in the day, while Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who is competing in the 61kg instead of his usual 57kg category, won both his rounds. He beat Moldova's Alexandru Chirtoaca in the first round and Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev in the second. He will face Nurbolat Abdualiyevof Kazakhstan later in the day.
Deepak, who is the reigning junior World Champion and won silver at the senior World Championships last year, crashed out in the first round with a 1-11 loss to Puerto Rico's than Adrian Ramos.
Jitender beat Ukraine's Denys Pavlov 10-1 in the first round before losing 0-4 to Turkey's Soner Demirtas in the quarters.
On Friday, Vinesh had won gold after beating Ecuador's Luisa Elizabeth Valverde 4-0. She beat China's Lannuan Luo (15-5) and Qianyu Pang (4-2) in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively. Anshu Malik (18) settled for silver in the 87kg category.
