Tokyo Olympics: India Bets On Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat For Medals

After hockey, wrestling has been India's most successful Olympic sport. Through Hockey India won 11 Olympic medals out of India's total of 28, while wrestling took second place with five medals.

In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Jadhav won a bronze medal. India had waited until the 2008 Beijing Olympics for another wrestling medal, which came in the form of bronze from Sushil Kumar, India's most successful wrestler. Unfortunately, Sushil Kumar was arrested in a murder case recently.

However, India still has the potential to win wrestling medals in Tokyo in the form of Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.

If we check the records of Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, we can see that Bajrang is the current World No. 1 in the 65kg category and is seeded first.

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Bajrang, who has won gold at the Asian and Commonwealth Games, as well as medals at the World Wrestling Championships and Asian Championships, is eager to win his first Olympic medal.

In the women's 53kg event, Vinesh Phogat is also a medal contender. The 26-year-old wrestler was injured at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and lost in the quarterfinals. She had a fantastic season, winning three gold medals in a row at international events in 2021.

Meanwhile, Sonam Malik, the 19-year-old gifted teenager, has become a surprise contender with remarkable results on both the home and international stage and also has a possibility of scoring in Tokyo.