Wrestling: “If all goes well, my target is world wrestling championships, leading up to Tokyo Olympics which is my main aim,” says Bajrang Punia determinedly. The wrestler returned to Sonepat after attending a one-month training camp at Inspire Institute of Sports in Vijaynagar. He said that the training there was beneficial to keep himself in shape. “It was a good training camp. Since it was off-season, I concentrated more on gym training and mixing it a little with mat training”.
Bajrang looks forward to returning to the national camp scheduled for September 1. After arriving at the centre, he along with other wrestlers, coaches and support staff will be tested for COVID-19 and quarantined for two weeks. As starting next week, he will not be able to train properly the grappler decided not to take any break from training. “I am still working out. After we join it we will be quarantined so then all we will be doing is rest. So, I will give it all this week and then rest for the next two,” the three-time world medallist said.
Looking forward to National Camp
With the camp resuming after six months, Bajrang loos forward to get the most out of the one-month long camp. It is important, he says, in the Tokyo Olympic preparations. “The best thing about training at the camp is we get to train with partners of my weight category. Besides this, training with champion wrestlers in itself is a great motivation,” he said adding “I will also be training with three coaches now, Shako and the two Indian coaches. Each coach has a different style and a favourite technique. So it is always a big learning curve at the camp”.
The Asian championship medallist has not yet made any particular plan for the quadrennial event. But with camp resuming, he now will sit with his coaches to plan a road map for the Tokyo Games. “At the training camp, will sit with Shako and the Indian coaches and make a training plan. Whatever, training module they give, I have to follow it. I will also discuss the shortcomings with my coaches and work on it”.
Bajrang is not concentrating on any particular weakness to improve. Instead, he wants to develop as a complete wrestler who can emerge victoriously even from tough matches. “We are not working any particular shortcoming. We watch my old matches and identify the mistakes and then work on it. We can never know what exactly is the weakness. The opponent will not tell me what he will be doing next. I need to be ready for everything and practice everything. On a given day, any technique can be a game-changer especially at big tournaments such as world championships and Olympics,” he signed off.
