Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia fails to pocket elusive gold at Asian Wrestling Championships

India’s Deepak Punia went down fighting to Kazakhstan’s Azmat Dauletbekov in the gold medal match of the men’s 86 kg category freestyle at the Asian Wrestling Championship that concluded Sunday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

India’s second medal of the day, a bronze, came in the men’s 92 kg freestyle category through Vicky. The Indian team overall won 17 medals, one of them gold. India also won five silver and 11 bronze medals.

Punia was expected to pocket a gold medal but settled for silver in the 86 kg category. The Kazakh wrestler proved a hard nut to crack in the second half of the six-minute bout. Punia lost 1-6 to Dauletbekov.

After a slow start, both competitors were warned about inactivity in the opening 60 seconds of the match. However, it was the Kazakh wrestler who enjoyed a slender 3-1 lead at the end of the first half, which was three minutes.

Punia usually takes time to settle down but pulls back in the last three minutes. In Sunday's final, his moves were ineffective as Dauletbekov’s good defense denied the Indian wrestler any points at the crucial juncture of the final contest. Despite Punia’s making all-out efforts in the last 60 seconds to earn an elusive gold medal, Dauletbekov dodged and managed to wriggle out of a tight situation.

It was Punia's fourth continental medal in Mongolia. He won silver in the 2021 edition in Almaty and claimed bronze medals in 2020 and 2019.

Vicky won the second medal, a bronze, for India in the men’s 92 kg freestyle category as he beat Ajiniyaz Saparniyazov of Uzbekistan 5-3.

Promising talent Yash failed to enter the medal round in the men’s 74 kg freestyle event. Even Anirudh couldn’t make the medal bracket in the men’s 125kg freestyle group.

On Saturday, India's freestyle team won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.