XtraTime Web Desk: India gets its first gold of the Asian Games 2018 as the nation’s biggest medal hope Bajrang Punia has kept his promise and won the gold medal in the 65kg freestyle wrestling event. He outclassed Japan’s Daichi Takatani 11-8 in the final bout. Earlier in the first round Punia destroyed Sirojiddin Khasanov 13-3, winning it by technical superiority. He followed his form again in the quarterfinal as he outclassed Tajikistan’s Abdulqosim Fayziev 12-2 to storm into the last four. In the semifinal he was in a more attacking mood as he thumped Mongolia’s Batmagnai Batchuluun 10-0 to win his third straight bout via technical superiority.
The 24-year old from Haryana also had an upper hand against Takatani of Japan in a nail biting fought final bout. Punia took a healthy 6-0 lead before the Japanese wrestler fought back to tie the bout at 6-6. But Punia’s resilience eventually paid off as he put in a great defensive show towards the end of the bout to hold on to a great victory.