HANGZHOU: When Bajrang Punia hit the mat for the fourth and final time, he allowed his face to be buried for a touch longer than necessary. It was like he wanted some time to process the beatdown he had just received. The electronic scoreboard said there was 89 seconds remaining for him to stage a fightback but Kaiki Yamaguchi had rendered that information obsolete. The 2021 Olympic bronze medallist had lost 0-10 (he had conceded two one-pointers before suffering four two point takedowns), a humbling loss. The Japanese had sealed the victory by technical superiority.
It wasn't even a surprise. While the 24-year-old Yamaguchi was quicker and faster, Punia, 29, looked like he was wrestling with a heavy back-pack on his shoulder. He was slower, the reflexes just weren't quite up to point and his mind and body were on two different wavelengths. This may well be a kneejerk reaction but this 0-10 defeat (one of his last competitive losses, at the 2022 World Championships, was also by the same margin) had career-ending vibes to it. That he goes back from Hangzhou without a medal is also not a surprise because his last competition came a year ago (the above-mentioned Worlds). It's also a first experience for the 65kg freestyle wrestler — he had won a medal in all his previous multi-discipline Games (bronze in Tokyo, gold in Birmingham, Jakarta and Gold Coast and silver in Incheon and Glasgow).
Perhaps, then it's understandable why watching the event unfold in real time made for sad viewing. Of a once imposing figure resembling a fallen gladiator; the Indian couldn't even live with the Japanese in the same postcode. That much was apparent very early in the piece. Punia, once an unstoppable force, ran into a tide without knowing how to swim against the current. As Yamaguchi continued to toy with Punia, the latter was seemingly bereft of any weapons. He had no attacking avenues open and had given up the contest. He was just waiting for the sweet release of the referee's voice that would signal the end of the contest.
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The only time he attacked successfully came after the end of the bout when he tore away the wrapping on his wrist. He raced through the mixed zone without stopping, the pain and the sadness in his eyes, evident. "I knew his style," Yamaguchi said after the bout. "He's a famous wrestler, I had come prepared for him and I had the mindset that I was only leaving with a victory."
There will be questions asked on whether he did the right thing by taking the quota that was offered to him to compete directly rather than going through a selection trial. There will also be questions asked on whether the officials were right to award him a quota when he hadn't taken part in a competitive bout for 13 months.
The day began promisingly for the wrestler. A 10-0 VSU over Ronil Tubog before a trickier 4-0 VPO win over Alibeg Alibegov of Bahrain put him in the semifinals. For a man who had started training just before July, reaching the semifinals without conceding a point was a solid start towards defending the gold.
One of the top dogs of the discipline was waiting for him in the semifinal. Iran's 2022 world champion, Rahman Amouzadkhalili, current World No 3. It showed that one was at the top of his game while the other is returning to the mat after 13 months out. The scoreboard said it was 8-1 after six minutes but the Iranian knew he was going to win long before the six minutes was up, such was his choke-like grip on the encounter.
One move, a four-point takedown where he sent Punia's back crash landing onto the mat in the second stanza, brought out a scream from the crowd at the small but imposing wrestling hall, a small community space in Lin'an district, more than a hour's drive away from downtown Hangzhou. Lin'an gives very small-time, sleepy town vibes but its aspirations are there for the world to see. Various high rise buildings, most of them in different stages of construction, tower over the place. The arena is where the place truly felt alive on Friday. For Punia though, it sounded the deathknell.
Paris is still a long time away in the horizon but it's not hard to wonder what's next for the wrestler. For the majority of 2023, he has been out on the streets, protesting against the authorities who run the sport in India. While he has emerged as an ally for women wrestlers seeking justice against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (former WFI president) who's facing multiple charges of harassment, he has sacrificed exposure trips, training and competition time in doing so. Whatever happens on the mat going forward, that's a cause worth fighting for.
Three bronze in wrestling
On a day when Punia was embarrassed, the country's other wrestlers saved some face by winning three bronze. Aman Sehrawat, touted to be the face of India's future in the sport, picked third place after coming through the repechage. Repechage was also responsible for medals won by Sonam and Kiran.
