India’s Deepak Punia lost out in the men’s freestyle 86kg semi-finals to USA’s David Taylor at Tokyo Olympics, but the Indian has a chance to return with a medal on his Olympic debut.
The second seed will play in the bronze medal match and is up against San Marino’s Myles Amine.
Amine created history long before he landed in Tokyo. He became San Marino’s first-ever Olympic qualifier in wrestling when he reached the semi-finals of the 2019 World Championships at 86kg in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
He couldn’t win a medal there but has been on the podium in Europe. He won a silver at the European championship in 2020 and retained his place on the podium this year with a bronze.
He has also won a bronze at the 2019 European Games.
Wrestling runs in Amine’s family. His grandfather had represented Lebanon at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. His brother Malik is also a wrestler.
Amine, who was a flag bearer for San Marino at the opening ceremony, won his opening match over Colombian Carlos Arturo Izquierdo Mendez 12-2. He was then lost to Taylor by the same scoreline. He entered the repechage round when Taylor beat Punia in the semi-finals.
In the repechage, he beat Belarus’ Ali Shabanau 2-0 to enter the bronze medal bout against Deepak Punia.
Amine at Tokyo 2020
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | Carlos Arturo Izquierdo Mendez | 12-2 (Victory by technical superiority) |
| Quarter-final | David Taylor | 2-12 (Defeat by technical superiority) |
| Repechage Round | Ali Shabanau | 2-0 (Victory by points) |