Bajrang Punia (born 26 February 1994) is an Indian

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

, who competes in the 65-kg weight category. At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

, Punia won a bronze medal by defeating Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov with a wide 8-0 margin. Punia is the only Indian wrestler to win 4 medals at the

World Wrestling Championships The World Wrestling Championships are the Amateur Wrestling World Championships organized by United World Wrestling. The Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling tournament began in 1904, and the Men's Freestyle Wrestling tournament began in 1951. The Women's ...

Early life and background

Punia was born in Khudan,

Jhajjar Jhajjar is a town in Jhajjar district in the Indian state of Haryana. The city is situated on the road connecting Rewari to Rohtak (NH-352), Loharu to Meerut (NH334B), Charkhi Dadri to Delhi and Gurgaon to Bhiwani. Jhajjar is located west o ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

, India. He began wrestling at the age of seven and was encouraged to pursue the sport by his father. Punia grew up in rural area. His family did not have money for traditional sports. Instead, he had to partake in free sports like

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and

Kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

. Punia's father was a wrestler as well and at a young age, his family enrolled him in a local mud wrestling school. Punia started to skip school to go to wrestling practice. He went to Chattarsal Stadium in 2008 where he was trained by Ramphal Mann. In 2015, his family moved to

Sonepat Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest o ...

so that he could attend a regional center of

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

. Currently, he works in the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

on the post of Gazetted officer OSD Sports. Punia enjoys seeking out knowledge of his village elders. Punia is married to fellow wrestler Sangeeta Phogat.

Career

2013 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2013 Asian Wrestling Championships were held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, India. The event took place from 18 to 22 April 2013. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, India, in the semi-final bout, Bajrang lost 3-1 to Hwang Ryong-hak of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

to win the bronze medal in the men's freestyle 60 kg category. In the Round of 16, he faced Shogo Maeda of Japan, beating him 3-1. His opponent in the quarter-finals was Morad Hassan of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

whom he beat 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals.

2013 World Wrestling Championships The 2013 World Wrestling Championships was the 9th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and were held from September 16 to 22 in Budapest, Hungary. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco- ...

In Budapest, Hungary, Bajrang won the bronze medal in the men's freestyle 60 kg category by qualifying for the bronze medal bout through the repechage round. There, he met

Enkhsaikhany Nyam-Ochir Enkhsaikhany Nyam-Ochir ( Mongolian: Энхсайханы Ням-Очир) is a Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the n ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and beat him 9-2. In the Round of 32, he faced Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria who beat him 7-0. With the Bulgarian grappler qualifying for the final bout, Bajrang then faced Shogo Maeda of Japan and earned a walkover. His next opponent was

Ivan Guidea Ivan Guidea (born 12 May 1988) is a Romanian freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, and with a 10-3 win over the Romanian, Bajrang earned a spot in the bronze medal bout.

2014 Commonwealth Games

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, Scotland, he won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 61 kg category, after losing 1-4 to David Tremblay of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In the Round of 16, Bajrang faced Sasha Madyarchyk of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and beat him 4-0. He face
Marno Plaatjies
of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in the quarter-finals and won 4-1. The

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

wrestler, Amas Daniel, was his opponent in the semi-finals and overcame him in a 3-1 score line.

2014 Asian Games

In Incheon, South Korea, he won the silver medal in the Men's freestyle 61 kg category, after losing 1-3 to Masoud Esmaeilpoorjouybari of

. In the Round of 16, he faced Tuvshintulga Tumenbileg of

and beat him 3-1. His quarter-finals opponent was Farkhodi Usmonzoda of

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

whom he beat 4-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. He was assured of a medal when he beat Noriyuki Takatsuka of Japan 4-1 in the semi-finals.

2014 Asian Wrestling Championships

In Astana, Kazakhstan, Bajrang won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 61 kg category, losing 0-4 to Masoud Esmaeilpour of

. In the Round of 16, Bajrang met

Lee Seung-Chul Lee Seung-chul (; born December 5, 1966) is a South Korean singer best known for the hit songs, "My Love", "Never Ending Story", and "Girls' Generation". Currently an artist of Kakao Entertainment's label Flex M, he debuted in 1985 as the vo ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

whom he beat 3-1. In the quarter-finals, he faced Noriyuki Takatsuka of Japan whom he beat 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. There he met Nazmandakh Lhamgarmaa of

whom he beat 3-1 to assure himself of a medal.

2015 World Wrestling Championships The 2015 UWW World Wrestling Championships were the 12th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held from September 7 to 12 in Las Vegas, United States. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle M ...

Unlike his fellow

Narsingh Yadav Narsingh Pancham Yadav (born 6 August 1989) is an Indian wrestler. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 74 kg category. He was banned for 4 years and barred from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro ...

, Bajrang wasn't able to win a medal at the tournament in Las Vegas and finished 5th. In the Round of 32, he met Batboldyn Nomin of

who beat him 10-0. With the Mongolian qualifying for the final bout in the 61 kg category, Bajrang got a chance to contest in the

Repêchage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

round. His first opponent in the repêchage round was

Reece Humphrey Reece Weslee Humphrey (born July 31, 1986, in Bloomington, Indiana) is retired American freestyle wrestler who competed for the men's freestyle 60 kg at the World Wrestling Championships 2013 in Budapest, Hungary. He was eliminated in the quar ...

of the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

whom he beat 6-0 easily. The second repêchage opponent was Beka Lomtadze from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

who put up a fight but was ultimately overcome 13-6 by the Indian. Unfortunately, he fell at the last hurdle, drawing the bronze medal bout 6-6 but his opponent

Vasyl Shuptar Vasyl Shuptar (born January 27, 1991, in Lviv) is a Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographi ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, scoring the last point.

Asian Wrestling Championship 2017

In 2017 May, he won a gold medal at the

Asian Wrestling Championship Asian Wrestling Championships is the Wrestling Asian Championship organized by the Asian Associated Wrestling Committee (AAWC). The men's tournament began in 1979 and The women's tournament was first staged in 1996, and it has been held every year. ...

held in Delhi.

Pro Wrestling League

Bajrang was the second acquisition of the JSW owned Bangalore franchise in the auction conducted in New Delhi. The wrestler was picked up for a sum of Rs 29.5 lakh. The Pro Wrestling League was scheduled to be held from 10 December to 27 December across six cities.

2018 Commonwealth Games

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, Australia, he won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 65 kg category. He overcame Kane Charig of Wales by Technical Superiority to clinch the gold.

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

On August 19, he won the Men's freestyle 65 kg /Gold medal. He defeated Japanese Wrestler Takatani Daichi 11-8; the score was locked at 6-6 after the first round.

2018 World Wrestling Championships The 2018 World Wrestling Championships were the 15th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and were held from 20 to 28 October in Budapest, Hungary. Russia claimed 10 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals, its best ...

Bajrang won Silver at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships. After that Silver Medal, he claimed World No. 1 in 65 kg category.

2019 World Wrestling Championships The 2019 World Wrestling Championships were held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan from 14 September to 22 September 2019. The tournament served as qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics, the top six wrestlers from each category earned their NOCs a qu ...

Bajrang won Bronze for the second time at a World Championship, thereby qualifying India for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the 65 kg freestyle wrestling event.

2020 Rome Ranking Series

On 18 January, Bajrang defeated Jordan Oliver 4-3 in the final in the 65 kg freestyle category at the Ranking Series.

Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2021

In 2021, he won the gold medal in the 65 kg event at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2021 held in Rome, Italy.

2021 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2021 Asian Wrestling Championships took place from 13 April to 18 April in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was held at the same venue as the 2021 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. This event was the 34th edition of the Asian Wrestling ...

He clinched a silver medal at the

2021 Asian Wrestling Championships The 2021 Asian Wrestling Championships took place from 13 April to 18 April in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It was held at the same venue as the 2021 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. This event was the 34th edition of the Asian Wrestling ...

after losing to Takuto Otoguro in the final.

2020 Tokyo Olympics

On 6 August 2021, he won the pre-quarterfinal match in 65 kg category in

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

against

Ernazar Akmataliev Ernazar Akmataliev (born 2 July 1998) is a Kyrgyzstani wrestler. He won the gold medal in the 70 kg event at the 2021 U23 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. He competed in the men's freestyle 65 kg event at the 2020 Summe ...

and his quarter-final match against Morteza Ghiasi Cheka. In the bronze medal match he defeated the Kazakhstani wrestler Daulet Niyazbekov, winning by a margin of 8-0. Bajrang and other Indian Olympians were featured in a can by the Indian soft drink manufacturer,

Thums Up Thums Up is an Indian multinational brand of cola in India. It was introduced in 1977 to offset the withdrawal of The Coca-Cola Company from India. The brand was later bought by Coca-Cola who re-launched it in order to fight against Pepsi to c ...

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Bajrang Punia clinched the gold medal with a dominating win over Canada’s Lachlan McNeil in the 65kg final bout at the

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

International competitions

World Championship

U23 World Championship

Asian Games

Commonwealth Games

Asian Wrestling Championship

Olympics

Record against opponents

Awards

* Arjuna Award, 2015 *

Padma Shri Award Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferr ...

, 2019 *

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award ( Major Dhyan Chand Sport Jewel Award), is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Governm ...

award, 2019 *

FICCI The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India. History Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla an ...

India Sports Award 2020 ;For winning the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics * from the Government of India. * from the

Government of Haryana The Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

. * from the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

* from the Indian Olympic Association

References

External links

FILA profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Punia, Bajrang Living people Indian male sport wrestlers 1994 births Sport wrestlers from Haryana People from Jhajjar Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Wrestling Championships medalists Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of India Olympic bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in wrestling