Chandigarh: Athletes gave India reason to rejoice with the best medals ever at the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Tokyo under the COVID-19 cloud.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar's blessing on prodigy Ravi Dahia's rise to a silver medalist in Tokyo, Bajrang Puneya, who won bronze with a heavy knee, reports on TOI's 2021 share of pain and gains.
One thing was clear from the statements of Tokyo Olympic medalists Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Bunya. The two were unwilling to accept rare silver medals and bronze medals of equal value, respectively.
If someone scrolls through the Bajrang timeline on his social media account, the Asian and Commonwealth Games champion can be seen sleeping with him alongside the bronze medalist in Tokyo, with the caption: " The dream has yet to change reality. "
Dahiyeh also cropped a static image on the podium, realizing that the job was not done yet. Settling in second place, he said, "I didn't come to Tokyo to win silver. That wouldn't give me satisfaction. I couldn't get what I wanted."
However, Ravi's silver and Bajrang's bronze ensured that India was not left empty in wrestling, as in the end there was a sense of dissatisfaction after the wrestlers failed to achieve great performances.
Suburb, a resident of Nahari village in Haryana's Sonipat district, was definitely one of the black horses of the Indian squad in Tokyo. It was his courage and valor that made him an overnight sensation despite losing the 57kg final to defending champion Zavor Ojeev, a fighter who has dominated the weight class for nearly four years.
Most interesting is the way 23-year-old Ravi entered the Olympic final. The Chhatrasal Stadium result of 2-9 in the second half saw a dramatic comeback when Kazakhstan's double world medalist Norrislam Sanayev lost in the semi-finals.
Currently, Ravi has the silver medal. However, he has his eyes set on gold at Paris 2024
Like Ravi, Bajrang has set high standards for himself. Not many will realize the fact that the three-time World Championship medalist was disabled from a knee injury even before her appearance at the Games.
Bajrang had sprained his right knee during a preliminary tournament in Russia and had been out of the field for 25 days before the Olympics. However, Bajrang was careful not to return empty-handed as he challenged a heavy tie on his knee to defeat Kazakh Daulat Niyazbekov 8-0 in the 65kg bronze medal match.
As the search for a foreign coach continues, the Chhaggar-born fighter eagerly awaits the 2022 package, as he seeks to defend his titles at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and eventually the gold medal in Paris.
Aside from the duo, Deepak Bunya and Finch Phogat raised hopes of some medals, but young defenders Sonam Malik and Anshu Malik were not up to the task in the Japanese capital.
Furthermore, the alleged involvement of two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar in the death of fighter Sagar Rana at Chhatrasal Stadium shook the entire nation. Sushil is now behind bars.
Furthermore, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Charan Singh painted the game in the wrong image by raising his hand for an older wrestler during the under-15 tournament in Ranchi.
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