Deepak Punia pulls out of World Wrestling Championships final due to injury, settles for silver medal

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Deepak Punia ended his campaign at the World Wrestling Championships, settling for a silver medal, as he announced he would be missing his final bout against Iran’s Olympic Champion Hassan Yazdani due to injuries he suffered in the previous rounds. This is India’s fourth medal in the ongoing World Championships, with Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya winning bronze before.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Deepak said: “The left foot is not taking the load. It’s difficult to fight in this condition. I know it was a big chance to fight against Yazdani but I can’t help it.”

Deepak had come out of the mat limping and with a swollen right eye after his semifinal against Switzerland’s Stefan Reichmuth on Saturday.In a dream run, Deepak reached the final with wins over Reichmuth, Colombia’s Carlos Arturo Mendez and Kazakhstan’s Adilet Davlumbayev.

It was a good draw for Deepak and he exploited it to get the biggest medal of his career. Only last year, he had won the junior world championship title.

Sushil Kumar remains India’s only world champion. He had won a gold in 66kg in 2010 World Championship in Moscow. Rahul Aware will fight for a bronze medal in 61kg later on Sunday.