Deepak Punia eyes Olympic medal on international return at the Individual World Cup

India’s upcoming wrestling sensation Deepak Punia takes to the mat in the 86kg freestyle event at the Individual World Cup and will be counting on the new techniques he picked up during lockdown.

The grappler, who has already secured an Olympic berth underwent intense training in the past 8 months to succeed in Belgrade.

Unlike many who saw their life come to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deepak Punia had an akhara (mud pit) in Narela – to fall back upon. He spent his time there under the supervision of his personal coach.

“I have been completely focussed on training and ensured I didn’t miss out on practice during the lockdown period. I was following my schedule as in normal times.”

A former junior world champion and a silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships, for Punia the World Cup will be a platform to learn and improve on certain areas ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

With the Individual World Cup being the only major event ahead of the Olympic year, Deepak Punia realises the importance of a good show in Belgrade and experiment on the new tricks he recently picked up.

Speaking of his ambitions from the tournament, Punia said, “I want to improve in some areas. For that, we all need to participate in as many tournaments as possible. Training and exercises are important, but the real learning experience comes from competitions. ”