Sajan Bhanwal became the first Indian to win back-to-back medals at the Junior World Wrestling Championship.
India’s 20-year-old wrestler Sajan Bhanwal became the first Indian to win back-to-back medals at the Junior World Wrestling Championship, after bagging a Silver Medal in the 77kg Greco Roman category in Slovakia.
Bhanwal, who had won the Gold Medal at Junior Asia Championship in July, had defeated Dmytro Gardubei from Ukraine in the semifinals.
Bhanwal, who had also won a bronze in the 2017 World Junior Championship at Tampere, Finland, had beaten Norway’s Per Anders Kure in the quarterfinals.
The journey to the gold medal hasn’t been easy for Sajan due to lack of financial resources. Sajan’s father Mahipal asked his son to give up on studies and join Pratap School in Kharkhoda, the institution that primarily focuses on coaching on wrestling.
Bhanwal was quoted saying “I was desperate to win this medal. I had planned this final and kept thinking about it,” according to Indian Express.
