Deepak Punia.

Deepak Punia, 20, entered the final of the World Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on Saturday, and is now in line to make it a rare hat-trick of gold medals – he won a gold medal in the Cadet World Championships and then took gold in the Junior World Championships.

Standing in Deepak’s way on Sunday will be the legendary Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani. If the young Indian manages to beat the Iranian, he will become only the second Indian wrestler after double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar to win a gold at the Worlds. Sushil achieved the feat in 2010 in Moscow in the 66kg division.

Deepak, who hails from Jhajjar in Haryana, achieved several milestones on way to entering the final. He became the youngest Indian wrestler to reach the final of a World championship, booked a quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and assured himself of at least a silver, which no other Indian managed to secure in the current edition. Deepak also ensured that India will return from the Worlds with its best-ever haul as the country is now assured of four medals. India had won three medals in 2013.

In the ongoing edition, Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Bajrang Punia (65kg) have won a bronze each, besides securing a quota place for Tokyo. Rahul Aware, who lost his semifinal bout to Georgia’s Beko Lomtadze 6-10 in the non-Olympic weight category of 61kg on Saturday, is in contention for a bronze as he will be competing in the repechage round on Sunday.

After reaching the final, Deepak told TOI that he was always confident of winning a medal at the Worlds in his maiden appearance. “I was always confident about my wrestling. I had the belief that I could win a medal and also secure a quota place for Tokyo Olympics. It’s a wonderful feeling to achieve that. I trained hard for this tournament and was very eager to do well here. The gold I won last month in the Junior Worlds gave a huge boost to my confidence. Now, I am confident of winning it at the senior level too. I am up for the challenge against Yazdani (who is an Olympic and World champion),” he said.

Deepak had ended the country’s 18-yearlong drought for a gold after winning the junior World championships last month in Estonia.

Deepak’s path to the final was all about making sensational comebacks from difficult situations – at least in his opening round and the crucial quarterfinal bout, a victory in which secured him a place in the Olympics.

Starting off, Deepak faced home wrestler Adilet Davlumbayev, who resorted to some rough tactics and raced to a 5-0 lead. However, Deepak drew parity through takedown moves. At 7-7, Deepak earned a tactical point to move into the pre-quarters. He was hardly troubled by Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Kodirov in the next round and won 6-0.

However, in the quarters against Colombia’s Carlos Arturo Mendez, Deepak trailed 3-6 with just one minute to go, but he affected two takedowns in a short span to win the tense encounter 7-6. In the semis, Deepak put on a dominating show to advance to the final with an 8-2 win over Switzerland’s Stefan Reichmuth.

Deepak developed interest in wrestling after accompanying his father and grandfather to local dangals in Chhara village in Jhajjar, where they used to compete once. Deepak used to go there since the age of four, but it was only after watching his elder cousin Sunil Kumar, a well-known name in the dangal circuit, that he started participating in those competitions to earn some quick money to fund his career. In 2015, his cousin took him to Chhatrasal Stadium for formal training, where coach Virender took him under his wings. The rest, as they say, is history.

