Bajrang, who won India’s second medal at the World wrestling championships, dedicated his bronze medal to fellow grappler and mentor Yogeshwar Dutt for playing a key role in shaping his career.
For Bajrang, who won a bronze in the 60kg category in Budapest on Tuesday, Yogeshwar has always been a big influence throughout his career.
“Yogeshwar and I always share the room in camps. He has been a great guiding force for me besides my coaches. He is always there to point out my shortcomings to make me a better wrestler. He deserves a lot of credit for this medal,” said Bajrang .
Asian champion Amit Kumar won a silver in the 55kg category on the opening day.
Despite conceding early points in a crucial bout, the Haryana lad produced a clinical display to rout Mongolia’s Nyam-Ochir Enkhsaikhan 9-2 in the bronze medal play-off in the 60kg category on Tuesday.
Bajrang had a tough first bout as he faced world No. 6 Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria after he was granted a bye in the opening round. The 20-year-old Indian suffered a 7-0 defeat. Bajrang then got what he hoped for as Dubov reached the final giving Bajrang a place in the repechages.
“He (Vladimir) was really good. He didn’t give me any opening. But I knew he could go the distance (reach the final) and the coaches also asked me to be prepared for the repechages,” he said.
In the first repechage round, Bajrang got a walkover against injured Shogo Maeda of Japan.
Bajrang then thrashed Romania’s Ivan Guidea 10-3 to enter the bronze medal bout.
Narsingh misses out
On Thursday, Narsingh Yadav missed out on a bronze medal after going down 1-6 to Ali Shabanau of Belarus in the repechage final of the 74kg category.
Narsingh made a resounding start, overcoming Russia’s Kakhaber Khubezhty 10-2 in his opening bout. However, the Indian ran into reigning champion Jordan Burroughs in the second round and lost 7-0.
India’s Nirmala Devi (48kg) and Vinesh (51kg) failed to impress in the women’s section.
While Vinesh lost in the second round to Isabelle Sambou of Senegal, her compatriot Nirmala was overwhelmed by world No.1 Alyssa Lampe from USA 7-0 in the opening contest of the 48kg category. — PTI
