Wrestling News: Bajrang Punia is the biggest hope for India to grab a medal at the Tokyo Olympics in wrestling. And in order for him to meet a billion expectations, he will need to be a step ahead of his competitors. Interestingly, one right decision by the 26-year-old wrestler has given him an edge for when competition resumes.
Ever since the lockdown which was imposed in March due to coronavirus, he has been training along with best friend and India’s top wrestler in 74kg Jitender at the Apex Green apartment in Sonepat. To bolster his fitness further, Punia brought a wrestling mat from his village to his flat. He is confident that this will help him be better prepared for his competitors when tournaments resume. “I brought the mat from the village and have begun mat training. Now, I can practice my moves on the mat which will help me for when the competition returns”.
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The Asian medallist believes that the lockdown has given him time to introspect and work on his shortcomings. “This lockdown has made us learn a lot about ourselves. Before coronavirus broke out, we trained or competed most of the time. Due to this we never got time to introspect ourselves. But now, since there are no competitions we have got time to analyse our techniques and sharpen them. Jitender and I watch our previous matches and accordingly work on our weaknesses,” adding that all this will only help them in getting them better.
Punia is amongst the four Indian wrestlers who have confirmed the Tokyo Games quota after winning medals at World Championships in Nur-Sultan. While he booked the berth in 65kg, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia have secured the place in 57kg and 86kg respectively. Vinesh Phogat is the lone wrestler in India’s women’s wrestling division to have booked a place for the Summer Games which will be held next year.
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