India’s Bajrang Punia exhibited a solid performance as he stormed into the men’s freestyle 65kg semi-final after registering a hard-fought win against Iran’s Cheka Ghiasi at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, on Friday.
He will now be up against Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev, who is a veteran and a successive European champion (2018-2019).
As the Indian wrestler is one bout away from an Olympic medal, he will have to put to test all his wrestling acumen against a formidable opponent.
The Azerbaijan wrestler is a three-time world champion and a bronze medal winner at the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, it should be noted that all his victories came in lighter weight categories.
His golds at the world championships came in the 61kg category and his Olympic medal was in the 57kg category.
In the 65kg category victories that he achieved at the European Championships made him the strongest competitor in that weight category in Europe.
Haji Aliyev’s achievements:
2017 Wrestling World Cup, Bronze Medal
2018 Wrestling World Cup, Silver Medal
2018 European Championships, Gold Medal
2019 European Championships, Gold Medal
2019 European Games, Gold Medal
2020 Individual World Cup, Bronze Medal
At the Tokyo Games, he started his campaign with a victory by points (4-0) over Senegal’s Adama Diatta and then followed it up with an impressive 9-1 victory over Kazakhstan third-seed Daulet Niyazbekov.
In their previous encounter, the Indian wrestler had gotten the better of his Azerbaijan opponent in the 2019 Pro Wrestling League beating him 8-6.
Aliyev is expected to be a tough test for Bajrang, who is not looking in the best of his forms. However, his impressive tactics and composure have always been his strong points, having negated many threats in his previous bouts.
Bajrang, in his previous bout, after being severely crippled by his Iranian counterpart’s tactics, Bajrang found a moment of inspiration and countered a dangerous move from Ghiasi.
Bajrang wriggled out of a Ghiasi hold and moved into a position from where he turned his rival, pushed him on the mat and held him with his immense strength to emerge victorious by fall.
