After losing his mother just after qualifying for the 2020 Olympics, Deepak dedicates this gold medal to his late mother and his love for his country.
Key Points:
- 23-year-old Deepak Punia defeats Pakitan’s Muhammad Inam in wrestling to win a Gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Wednesday, 6 August 2022.
- He defeated Muhammad Inam 2-0, winning due to “technical superiority.”
- Deepal dedicates his win to his late mother, who died in 2020 after he qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he lost his chance at winning Bronze.
23-year-old Deepak Punia made his mark by winning Gold in Commonwealth Games 2022 on the night of Friday, 6 August, 2022. He defeated Pakistan’s Muhammad Inam 2-0, winning due to “technical superiority.”
Deepak is the son of Haryanvi milkman Subhas Punia. Last year, during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he lost his chance at winning Bronze in wrestling after losing to San Marino’s Myles Nazem Amine.
His father Subhas said, “When the national camp was closed due to lockdown in 2020, Deepak spent 18 days with his ailing mother Krishna Punia at our village. My wife always wanted to see Deepak win an Olympic medal but unfortunately she lost her life on April 9, 2020. When Deepak lost the bronze medal, he felt dejected. But we made sure that he was given a warm welcome with dhol and sweets. Win and loss and part of sport and that’s what we wanted him to understand. Now that he has won a Commonwealth Games medal, we will celebrate it till he returns with the meda.”
Deepak also happens to be the younger cousin of national champion Sunil Kumar. Sunil was a big inspiration to Deepak during his younger years. It was from his wrestling career that he was inspired to visit akhadas and take up professional wrestling as a career.
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