Tokyo Olympics wrestling: Deepak Punia loses 87kg bronze medal bout

Indian wrester Deepak Punia had to return empty-handed from Tokyo Olympics after losing his 87kg category bronze medal bout to San Marino's Myles Amine. It was a very close fought clash for the bronze, with Punia leading 2-1 till the very last minute before Amine bagged crucial three points in the last 30 seconds to walk away with the medal.

Deepak's defence was superb throughout the bout but the San Marino wrestler grabbed the decisive two-pointer after getting hold of the Indian's right leg and converted it into a take-down in dying moments of the bout. The 22-year-old Indian, son of a milk peddler in a Haryana village, was leading 2-1 before that take-down but it was not meant to be his day. Deepak made good use of a favourable draw to reach the semifinals but lost to the formidable American David Morris Taylor in the semifinals.

India's Deepak Punia goes down against Myles Amine 2-4 in the bronze medal clash of the 86 Kg Men's Freestyle wrestling at #Tokyo2020.

You've made the whole country proud with your achievement at the #Olympics.#Cheer4India — SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 5, 2021

Earlier, Deepak Punia (86kg) made good use of a favourable draw to reach the semifinals but lost to the formidable American David Morris Taylor.  It was always going to be a herculean task for Deepak to trouble the American, the 2018 world champion and the reigning Pan-American champion.

It was hardly a contest as Taylor effected one move after another to win by technical superiority in the first period itself. Deepak could make only one move on counter attack but the American did not give the Indian any chance to convert that into points.

The 22-year-old Deepak had earlier got past Nigeria's Ekerekeme Agiomor, the African championship bronze medallist by technical superiority and then prevailed 6-3 over China's Zushen Lin in the quarterfinal.