BHIM-UPI TOISA 2019: Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat adjudged wrestlers of the year

NEW DELHI: Star performers on the mat, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat have been jointly named wrestlers of the year at the fourth Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA), powered by BHIM-UPI.
Top Indian wrestler Bajrang was picked after putting up a great show last year, where he started off with a gold at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Xi'an, China. In the 65kg weight category, Bajrang got the better of Sayatbek Okassov of Kazakhstan to bag the top honours.
His terrific run in the international circuit continued throughout 2019 but unfortunately at the World Championships, in Nur Sultan, he missed out on the gold.

Though Bajrang had to settle for a bronze at the Worlds, his performance in the tournament helped him bag a quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Vinesh meanwhile won a bronze at the Asian Championship and had a tremendous run in 2019, winning three gold medals in the international events - Yasar Dogu International, Grand Prix of Spain and Poland Open.
Arguably India's best female wrestler at the moment, Vinesh also earned herself a quota place for the Tokyo Olympics during her fourth World Championships appearance, where the 25-year-old from Haryana managed to win her maiden Championship medal - a bronze in the 53kg weight category.
Bajrang, in 2019 was also conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - India's highest sporting honour and Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian award.
Pooja Dhanda and Deepak Punia were the other nominees in the wrestling category.