Bajrang silences doubters with bronze
Bajrang silences doubters with bronze: The problem with focusing on a warrior’s Achilles’ heel (or Bajrang Punia’s ankle, as Puerto Rican Sebastian Rivera would confirm at some point in the future).
It is that the rest of the body tends to resemble a rumbling barrel with ferocious, brawny arms aimed at subduing the enemy.
Beyond the obvious weakness of the heel, there is an entire armor tank and sideways snipes of agitated anatomy to counter.
Score
Pan-American rookie Rivera repeatedly picked at the Indian veteran’s right ankle before attempting to throw. Rivera had no answers for Bajrang’s shambolic leg defense in the bronze-medal match of the Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade, and he lost by a score of 11-9.
Bajrang won a bronze medal, his third at the World Championships, after coming back from a 0-6 deficit (he also has a silver). The 28-year-old added another halo to his legendary position in Indian wrestling, yet a World title like Sushil Kumar’s eludes him.
Despite the fact that he has been called washed up, written off as being replaceable by a slew of new domestic names that are routinely thrown into the ring, and rudely reminded that his career is on the decline in recent months, Bajrang showed up to grab his bronze, displaying the same level of urgency he displayed when winning a bronze medal at the Olympics was at stake.
The remainder of Bajrang’s fighting body, a big fearless heart, and an insightful brain, more than made up for the ‘leg weakness’ that allowed domestic rivals in a perpetually stacked 65 kg division to snap at his heels throughout the two periods of the bronze playoff.
Naturally, as has been the case throughout this World Championships and his whole career, Bajrang gave up a lot of points on that pickable leg.
It’s foolish for opponents to not even consider a backup plan when one’s vulnerability is so obvious, leaking vulnerable positions so prolifically and making it so easy to pick off points.
Bajrang
Rivera got the expected points, but he was ultimately surpassed by the Central American when Bajrang scored points via step-outs and a huge takedown with 23 seconds left on the clock, putting him down 8-9.
Bajrang’s timing of his rapid bulldozing was just as critical and astute as his veteran approach to closing the gap and passing Rivera. In the game, Rivera continued aiming for the same ankle from the same angle. Bajrang made movements to narrow the score differential twice: once in the last seconds of the first period and again as time ran out in the second.
In the waning seconds, the fuselage received a shot of gasoline from its gas tanks, much like Indian wrestlers are infamous for doing, a trait that is often derided because it is ineffective when Indians’ defenses allow attacks from their opponents to get through.
The fact that Bajrang is a second-period wrestler who is slow to take off and has issues with his legs is not hidden from anyone. Winning the medal for India’s back guard showed, though, exactly how much of a monster savage he can be in the second session.
Customary comeback
Bajrang had to sleep on the 0-10 scoreline he suffered at the hands of American Yianni Diakomihalis on Saturday before preparing for the repechage. Even in the repechage against Armenian Yazgen Tevanyan, it was one kill move in the waning seconds that gave him the rallying win and sent him to the bronze playoff.
A pounding neck-hold followed by a nice little scissor and some points-hogging rolls allowed Tevanyan to overcome the usual deficit. Tevanyan’s right leg was clutched until it went numb.
Some people think Bajrang waits too long to act. It always seems to come back to haunt him.
Nonetheless, he entered Belgrade with such assurance of bringing about the catastrophe as the seconds pressed down on Rivera, that the pressure, the figurative snapping of heels, was constantly on Rivera, who felt Bajrang clipping his wings.
Within seconds, Rivera had tacked on the first points of the game (ankle nibble, same every time). When attacking from the inside, Bajrang would exploit time and Rivera’s lack of focus to his advantage by brushing off the leg points as nothing and smashing him on the side edges after the latter had been forced to retreat.
Bajrang was towards the back, but he was constantly observed following Rivera into tight corners, trying to cut into Rivera’s lead.
In this high-scoring, nonstop action, Rivera was tripped inside, backing up for 4-6 to Bajrang, and after a succession of doubles and a lock at the side, the score read 6-8 as Rivera followed up with a lightning-fast n-th ankle pounce.
Hold
Bajrang remembers one particular ankle-pick vividly: he was hopping around, holding his balance, when his opponent suddenly lifted his leg and sent him flying, despite the fact that he was still holding on.
But with only 24 seconds left, Bajrang countered with a takedown of his own, and a successful challenge gave him an 11-9 advantage.
Bajrang has had a nervous buildup since his flaws have been exposed by younger, nimbler 65 kg competitors in India. Self-doubt about his dwindling abilities, a lack of coaching experience to elevate his game, and an uneasy belief that his body wasn’t steamrolling as it used to before 2019 are all factors he had to overcome.
However, Bajrang Punia, the winner of the India trials, showed on Sunday that he is made of other stuff when he competed internationally. While everyone is aware of Achilles’ vulnerable Achilles’ heel, they often forget about the rest of the formidable warrior.
Statements
Bajrang would confirm this, saying to UWW, “I threw away six points from the beginning.” And my plan B, a leg defense, didn’t work out either.
I need to figure out why it isn’t functioning properly. It didn’t help me win any of my previous bouts, and it didn’t help me win tonight, either. It’s a major deficiency, and I’ll have to exert a lot of effort to improve it. After suffering a knee injury, the team’s leg defense became a major issue (at the Olympics).
If it had, I wouldn’t have been able to recover my lost confidence and win back the game. Once upon a time, I wasn’t quite as generous with my shins (concede points on leg defense).
I never give up till the very end because we wrestlers put in a lot of effort. As for my leg defense, I’ll have to decide if I need to put in more time and effort or rely on my wits.
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