CWG 2022: Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Deepak Punia claim top honours as Indian wrestlers make merry

The Rashidovs, Otoguros, Niyazbekovs, Aliyevs and the Muszukajevs weren't there and Bajrang, in reality, used half his abilities to get the top position.

His final opponent Lachlan McNeil of Canada still grapples in the junior (U-21) section at the international stage. The 21-year-old actually got a lesson in the 'technical' part of wrestling from the much-experienced Bajrang over the six minutes of the bout. Bajrang hardly broke a sweat and won just by earning technical points - four in the first period, five in the second. There were no flashy 'fitle daanv' (body rolls) or 'dhobi pachhad' or 'dhobi patt' (overhead takedowns) - the signature moves associated with Bajrang. It seemed to people, who have followed Bajrang's career, that the 28-year-old was just practicing honing his leg defence - a part of Bajrang's game that often gets exposed when he faces pedigreed wrestlers. CWG 2022 Day 8: AS IT HAPPENEDThe successful title defence meant Bajrang now has two CWG gold medals to his name, besides the silver he got in 2014. Such was Bajrang's dominance that he won three of his four bouts inside the first period itself. He beat Naurau's Lowe Bingham and Mauritius' Jean Guyliane Joris Bandou 'by fall' before winning by technical superiority against England's Geroge Ramm in the semifinal.

"After the Olympics, I went for rehab for nearly seven months. It was important to completely heal from the knee injury that I had suffered before the Olympics at the preparatory camp in Russia. Gradually, I am getting into my groove, and this (CWG) gold will be a big confidence booster for me," Bajrang told TOI on the sidelines, just before going for the medal ceremony. "I know the competition here wasn't great, but a gold medal is a gold