Resting is as important as training in an athlete’s quest to become the best. The Indian Greco-Roman team which is currently training in Azerbaijan decided to follow the same strategy. Scheduled for three-times a day training session, the grapplers decided to take some time off the mat and visited the ‘Fire Temple’ at Baku rejecting the Coronavirus fear which has gripped the whole world.
Azerbaijan reported its first Coronavirus case in February after which it decided to close its border with Iran. Since then not much has been report on the situation.
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Only the six Indian Greco wrestlers in Olympic weight classes – Gyanendra (60kg), Ashu (67kg), Sajan (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Hardeep (97kg) and Naveen (130kg) — are attending the national camp along with India’s Greco Roman head coach Hargobind and a team doctor.
The Greco team is the only Indian side which is currently training outside India. They are training at Azerbaijan for the Olympic Qualifiers. The Asian Olympic Qualifiers which were scheduled to organized in March, however, were postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
The widespread of the epidemic has adversely affected the Indian wrestlers’ Olympic preparations. Apart from the Greco team, the women’s and freestyle squad was also scheduled for a camp abroad. But Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) as a precautionary measure decided to put off the Freestyle camp of Russia and Women’s camp of Ukraine.
Except for Vinesh Phogat, the Women’s side is now training at Lucknow SAI centre. The 2018 Asian Games champion had put aside the Coronavirus scare and decided to fly to Norway to train for the Olympics.
As for the freestyle team, apart from Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia, it is training at SAI Center, Sonepat. Ravi and Deepak chose to train at Chhatrasal Stadium which is where they learnt the art of wrestling.
