Birmingham : Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia successfully defended his 65kg gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 after beating Canada’s Lachlan McNeil in the final on Friday.
Punia, defeated the Canadian youngster on points 9-2 in the gold medal match at the Coventry Stadium and Arena.
This is Punia’s third medal at the CWG having won silver in the 61kg at Glasgow 2014 and Gold in 65kg in 2018 Gold Coast edition.
The Indian wrestler began his campaign with a commanding victory by fall over Lowe Bingham of Nauru in just 1 minute and 47 seconds before pinning Mauritius’ Jean Guyliane Joris Bandou in under a minute in the quarterfinals.
He then trounced English grappler George Ramm, who finished fourth in the 57kg at Gold Coast 2018, in the semfinal. Bajrang took just one minute and 21 seconds to secure a 10-0 win over the Bolton-based wrestler and marched onto the final.