By: Sarwar Alam
Commonwealth champion Bajrang Punia gave India its first Asian Games gold in 65kg wrestling on Sunday after veteran Sushil Kumar suffered a shock first-round exit in Jakarta. Punia, who won a silver at the 2014 edition in Incheon, battled past Japan’s Daichi Takatani 11-8 in a hard-fought final bout. Punia attacked from the word go to lead by 6-0 in the first minute of play, before the Japanese wrestler closed the gap through a series of counter attacks. But the Indian, who lost to Takatani in the quaterfinals of the Asian Championships in March, prevailed to give his country the first gold…
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