<p>True to his style, Bajrang Punia put his tactical acumen and strength to good use in the second period to pin Iran's Morteza Cheka Ghiasi for a semifinal berth in the men's free-style 65kg event which took him closer to an Olympic medal on debut, here on Friday.</p>.<p>Bajrang trailed the Iranian for a major part of the bout after being severely crippled by Ghiasi's defensive tactics, especially the body-locks.</p>.<p>Twice Bajrang was put on activity clock and also left to defend his right leg when Ghiasi got hold of it.</p>.<p>As the second period moved towards the final minute, Ghiasi looked like making a dangerous move when he got hold of Bajrang's right leg and almost pulled off a take down.</p>.<p>But Bajrang not only wriggled out of that clutch, he locked the neck of Ghiasi and moved into a position from where he turned his rival, pushed him on the mat and held him with his immense strength to emerge victorious by fall.</p>.<p>He will now fight it out with Azerbaijan's Haji Aliev for a place in the gold medal bout. Aliev is three-time world champion and bronze-winner from the Rio Games.</p>.<p>Before this bout, a timely take-down move helped him beat Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev in his opening bout.</p>.<p>Just before the end of the first period put the Indian ahead 3-1 but Akmataliev ran Bajrang close in the second period, getting two push-out points to level the scores.</p>.<p>Since Bajrang had the high scoring move, a two-pointer take down, he was declared winner on criteria.</p>.<p>It was not the most clean and fluent victories that he is known for, but was just enough for Bajrang, who came into the Games after suffering a minor knee injury during a local Russian tournament.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/man-held-for-passing-casteist-remarks-against-hockey-player-vandana-katariya-1016751.html" target="_blank">Read | Man held for passing casteist remarks against hockey player Vandana Katariya</a></strong></p>.<p>Debutant Indian wrestler Seema Bisla could not find a way to get out of the defensive trap of Tunisia's Sarra Hamdi and lost her 50kg opening round 1-3.</p>.<p>The 27-year-old could not make her moves as Hamdi applied the body lock to great effect, never allowing Seema to initiate a strong attack.</p>.<p>There hardly any moves in the bout with Hamdi getting two of her three points on push out and one on Seema's passivity.</p>.<p>Seema got on board when she too pushed her rival out after being put on activity clock for a second time.</p>.<p>The Tunisian later lost her next bout, which drew curtains on Seema's campaign.</p>.<p>The Rohtak grappler had not even won a national event till 2017 but went on to secure her berth for the Games by winning the World Olympic Qualifier, held in Sofia in May. </p>
<p>True to his style, Bajrang Punia put his tactical acumen and strength to good use in the second period to pin Iran's Morteza Cheka Ghiasi for a semifinal berth in the men's free-style 65kg event which took him closer to an Olympic medal on debut, here on Friday.</p>.<p>Bajrang trailed the Iranian for a major part of the bout after being severely crippled by Ghiasi's defensive tactics, especially the body-locks.</p>.<p>Twice Bajrang was put on activity clock and also left to defend his right leg when Ghiasi got hold of it.</p>.<p>As the second period moved towards the final minute, Ghiasi looked like making a dangerous move when he got hold of Bajrang's right leg and almost pulled off a take down.</p>.<p>But Bajrang not only wriggled out of that clutch, he locked the neck of Ghiasi and moved into a position from where he turned his rival, pushed him on the mat and held him with his immense strength to emerge victorious by fall.</p>.<p>He will now fight it out with Azerbaijan's Haji Aliev for a place in the gold medal bout. Aliev is three-time world champion and bronze-winner from the Rio Games.</p>.<p>Before this bout, a timely take-down move helped him beat Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev in his opening bout.</p>.<p>Just before the end of the first period put the Indian ahead 3-1 but Akmataliev ran Bajrang close in the second period, getting two push-out points to level the scores.</p>.<p>Since Bajrang had the high scoring move, a two-pointer take down, he was declared winner on criteria.</p>.<p>It was not the most clean and fluent victories that he is known for, but was just enough for Bajrang, who came into the Games after suffering a minor knee injury during a local Russian tournament.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/man-held-for-passing-casteist-remarks-against-hockey-player-vandana-katariya-1016751.html" target="_blank">Read | Man held for passing casteist remarks against hockey player Vandana Katariya</a></strong></p>.<p>Debutant Indian wrestler Seema Bisla could not find a way to get out of the defensive trap of Tunisia's Sarra Hamdi and lost her 50kg opening round 1-3.</p>.<p>The 27-year-old could not make her moves as Hamdi applied the body lock to great effect, never allowing Seema to initiate a strong attack.</p>.<p>There hardly any moves in the bout with Hamdi getting two of her three points on push out and one on Seema's passivity.</p>.<p>Seema got on board when she too pushed her rival out after being put on activity clock for a second time.</p>.<p>The Tunisian later lost her next bout, which drew curtains on Seema's campaign.</p>.<p>The Rohtak grappler had not even won a national event till 2017 but went on to secure her berth for the Games by winning the World Olympic Qualifier, held in Sofia in May. </p>