The journey to the Olympics for every India wrestler starts by fighting ‘dangals’. It is there that young kids hone the necessary skills and experience to represent the country at the quadrennial competition. And India’s best active wrestler Bajrang Punia’s story is no different. In conversation with WrestlingTV, the 26-year-old wrestler talked about one of his ‘dangal’ bout from 2014 which he won in six minutes.
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“1 dangal was organized in Khera village near Sonepat, Haryana. Unlike normal Olympic wrestling, in dangal, we only win by pinfall. I won the bout in six minutes and was awarded Rs 21,000 prize money for it”.
Back then, Punia was just 20 and was still making a name for himself in wrestling. The grappler had begun wrestling at the age of seven. He was encouraged by his father to take up the sport. In 2015, his father moved to Sonepat so that, Punia could concentrate on his training solely.
Four years after that dangal in Khera village, he won the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games titles. And from there began the rise of BAJRANG PUNIA. The two gold medals announced were enough to announce his arrival at the international scene.
It was time for two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar to pass the baton to Punia who is now the flag-bearer of Indian wrestling.
THE ROAD TO TOKYO OLYMPICS
Ever since, his two gold medals in 2018 – Asian and Commonwealth Game – and a silver medal at the world championship in Budapest, there has been no looking back for him.
The thirst to become the best and win gold for India has kept him going. In 2019, he created history by becoming the first Indian to win three world medals – 2013, 2018 and 2019. With the bronze medal at the Nur-Sultan held Worlds he also secured India’s berth in the 65kg weight category.
He carried the medal-winning momentum into 2020 too. At the Matteo Pellicone Rome Rankings held in January, Punia defeated Oliver Jordan Michael of USA to win gold. It was followed by a silver medal at the Asian Championship in February. This has helped him climb to the second spot in the United World Wrestling Rankings in 65kg.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR BAJRANG PUNIA?
In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided to push the Tokyo Games to 2021. But it has not affected his spirit. Although in self-isolation due to the nationwide lockdown in India, Punia continues training in his apartment in Sonepat.
He lives with fellow-wrestler Jitender and physiotherapist Manish. They have installed all the necessary things to keep themselves fit until they return to training on the mat.
“I want to stay positive all the time. There is a lot of time to return to training and get into top form. For now, I believe we should first defeat the coronavirus and then we will get into the rhythm for Olympics,” he concluded.
