Bajrang Punia Bags India’s First Gold in Asian Games

Published 08/19/2018, 2:31 PM EDT

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia kicked off India’s medal count at the 2018 Asian Games with a gold medal. The Indian registered an 11-8 victory over Japan’s Takatani Daichi in the men’s free-stye 65kg final.

Unfortunately, a ‘rusty’ Sushil lost his last chance to add an Asiad gold to his collection of medals after losing his qualification bout 3-5 to Bahrain’s Adam Batirov in the 74kg category.

Here is how social media reacted to Punia’s gold medal winning bout.

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Wonderful news from the #AsianGames2018.   1st gold. #BajrangPunia . Hopefully first of many.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 19, 2018

Congrats #BajrangPunia Wins India's First Gold Medal In Men's Wrestling Freestyle 65kg. pic.twitter.com/Can40gq2zc
— Narendra Modi fan (@narendramodi177) August 19, 2018

Heartiest Congratulations #BajrangPunia Wins India's First Gold Medal In Men's Wrestling Freestyle 65kg. Jai hind 🙏🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/xdfGaznNuK
— Deepak Soni (@mr_deepaksoni) August 19, 2018

Proud of you brother 💪
Bajrang Punia wins Gold Medal 🥇in Men's 65 Kg Freestyle wrestling category.@BajrangPunia Cheers bhai🥂 Olympic is waiting for you 😊💪🌺 #BajrangPunia pic.twitter.com/DFZAaHkhy4
— Dhru Mehta BJP (@DhruBJP) August 19, 2018

https://twitter.com/sugandha85/status/1031244707303550976

Proud of you #BajrangPunia ……….you did it….. pic.twitter.com/uD4R3UASNZ
— AkashGujjar (@AkashBaisla5) August 19, 2018

#BajrangPunia
Congratulations @BajrangPunia for making us proud and making our flag
fly high⁠ ⁠ #AsianGames2018⁠ ⁠⁠ winning Gold in Men's Freestyle 65 kg category.
— Siva (శివ) (@SivaNistala) August 19, 2018

Congratulations Bajrang Punia for bagging the first gold for India. We are proud of you! #BajrangPunia
— Swayamsiddh Tiwari (@im_Swayamsiddh) August 19, 2018

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https://twitter.com/PalkarPravin/status/1031244410716086273

Congratulations #BajrangPunia for Winning first gold medal in the #AsianGames2018 after defeating Takatani Daichi of Japan in the men's Wrestling Freestyle 65 kg. Amazing victory!! Proud moment for all Indians. pic.twitter.com/N7xEh5hSyU
— Vinay Tendulkar (@TendulkarBJP) August 19, 2018

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.