True to his style, Bajrang Punia put his tactical acumen and strength to good use in the second period to pin Iran's Morteza Cheka Ghiasi for a semifinal berth in the men's free-style 65kg event which took him closer to an Olympic medal on his debut, here on Friday.
Bajrang trailed the Iranian for a major part of the bout after being severely crippled by Ghiasi's defensive tactics, especially the body locks.
Twice Bajrang was put on the activity clock and also left to defend his right leg when Ghiasi got hold of it.
As the second period moved towards the final minute, Ghiasi looked like making a dangerous move when he got hold of Bajrang's right leg and almost pulled off a takedown.
But Bajrang not only wriggled out of that clutch, but he also locked the neck of Ghiasi and moved into a position from where he turned his rival, pushed him on the mat and held him with his immense strength to emerge victorious by fall.
He will now fight it out with Azerbaijan's Haji Aliev for a place in the gold medal bout. Aliev is the three-time world champion and a bronze winner from the Rio Games.
Before this bout, a timely take-down move helped him beat Kyrgyzstan's Ernazar Akmataliev in his opening bout.
Just before the end of the first period put the Indians ahead 3-1 but Akmataliev ran Bajrang close in the second period, getting two push-out points to level the scores.
Since Bajrang had the high scoring move, a two-pointer takedown, he was declared the winner on criteria.
It was not the cleanest and fluent victories that he is known for but was just enough for Bajrang, who came into the Games after suffering a minor knee injury during a local Russian tournament.