To play for bronze this evening

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia lost the men’s 65kg freestyle semi-final to Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev on Friday.

Bajrang lost 5-12 in a bout in which Aliyev set the pace.

After the first period, Aliyev led 4-1 and it was down to Bajrang to make the moves to reduce the deficit. In the second period, the Azerbaijan wrestler got hold of Bajrang’s legs and went on a point-scoring spree to take a 8-1 lead. Bajrang did score four points later in the bout but Aliyev again extended his lead by seven points and eventually won the bout to seal a berth in the gold medal match.

Bajrang will now fight for the bronze medal later in the day today (Aug. 7).

It was a disappointing day for the Indian wrestlers as both Bajrang Punia and Seema Bisla failed to make it to the gold medal bout.

Seema had lost her opening bout to Sarra Hamdi. She soon found herself out of reckoning for repechage as Hamdi lost her quarterfinal bout.