Bajrang Punia wins gold for India, beats Japan's Daichi Takatani 11-8 in men's freestyle wrestling 65 kg

Jakarta: Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia won the first Gold for the country in the ongoing 18th edition of the Asian Games on Sunday. Punia beat Japan's Daichi Takatani 11-8 in men's freestyle wrestling 65 kg.

The Indian wrestler had booked his place in the semi-finals of the men's 65 kg freestyle event after defeating Fayziev Abdulqosim of Tajikistan. After having a slow start to the quarter-final match, the 24-year-old thrashed Abdulqosim 12-3 by technical superiority to storm into the next round.

Earlier, Punia had defeated Khasanov Sirojjidin of Uzbekistan to reach the quarter-final. Indian wrestler Sandeep Tomar, another Indian in the fray, lost his quarter-final clash to Iran's Reza Atrinagharchi 9-15.