New Delhi: Bajrang, who won India's second medal at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships, on Wednesday dedicated his bronze medal to fellow grappler and mentor Yogeshwar Dutt for playing a key role in shaping his career.
For Bajrang, who won a bronze in the 60kg category in Budapest, Hungary last night, Olympic medallist Yogeshwar has always been a big influence throughout his career.
"Yogeshwar and I always share the room in camps. He has been a great guiding force for me besides my coaches. He is always there to point out my shortcomings to make me a better wrestler. He deserves a lot of credit for this medal. His presence at the mat side also helped. I consider him my family and he also treats me like his younger brother," Bajrang, who competes in the same weight category as Yogeshwar, told PTI from Budapest.
Asian Champion Amit Kumar won a silver in the 55kg category after going down 1-2 against Iran's Hassan Farman Rahimi on the opening day of World Wrestling Championships on Monday at the Papp Laszlo Arena in Budapest.
Despite conceding early points in a crucial bout, the Haryana lad produced a clinical display to rout Mongolia's Nyam-Ochir Enkhsaikhan 9-2 in the bronze medal play-off in the 60kg category yesterday.
Even though he had failed to achieve his primary target -- a gold, Bajrang is happy that he is at least not returning empty-handed from the World Championships.
"I came to the championships to win gold. I had put in lot of efforts for that. But I can be satisfied with a bronze medal as this was just my second international tournament at the senior level (first being Asian Championships in April)," said the freestyle grappler.
"I was in awe initially in taking on the best from the world as most them looked experienced," he admitted.
Bajrang had a tough first bout as he faced world no six Vladimir Dubov of Bulgaria after he was granted a bye in the opening round. The 20-year-old Indian suffered a 0-7 defeat in that match.
"He (Vladimir) was really good. He didn't give me any opening. But I knew he could go the distance (reach the final) and the coaches also asked me to be prepared for the repechages," he said.
In the first repechage round, Bajrang got a walkover against injured Shogo Maeda of Japan. Bajrang then thrashed Romania's Ivan Guidea 10-3 to enter the bronze medal bout.
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