– NET Web Desk

Dashing the hopes of another Gold Medal match for India in wrestling, Bajrang Punia lost the men’s 65kg freestyle semi-final to Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev 5-12.

Bajrang could not repeat the spirited show of the morning as Aliyev set the pace of the match.

After the first period, Aliyev led 4-1 following it up with 8-1 after a scoring spree. Bajrang however did manage to score a few points but Aliyev extended his lead continuously.

Bajrang will now fight for the bronze on August 6.

Bajrang had started the day with a win over Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the final moments of the bout. The 27-year-old was leading 3-1, going into the last three minutes of his opening bout but Akmataliev took two points in the dying moments of the match to make things interesting.

Despite the scoreline reading 3-3, Bajrang won the bout by pulling off a higher-scoring move that gave him two points.