After all he was the World No. 2 going into the Olympics, he had won the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as the 2018 Asian Games gold medals, besides coming on top in various ranking tournaments before the marquee event. But the ones who follow the sport regularly and with intent knew the field was tough in the 65kg weight category. There were the likes of top seed Gadzhimurad Rashidov of Russia, 2018 World Champion Takuto Otoguro of Japan, Iszmail Muszukajev of Hungary, John Michael Diakomihalis of the United States and fierce competitors like Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan. Ultimately, Bajrang lost the semifinal to Aliyev, but grabbed the bronze by putting it across Niyazbekov in the repechage round.