Bajrang Punia does not mind going straight to the World Championships without high-quality practice in other tournaments.
Punia, a 65kg wrestler, has won three medals at the World Wrestling Championships. He also has a Gold and a Bronze each at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. At Tokyo 2021, he is being considered as one of India’s top prospects for an Olympic medal, preferably a Gold. He has won the Arjuna Award in 2015, and Padma Shri and Rajiv Gandhi Khelratna in 2019.
“It is very good that we are back at training. It isn’t that we were out of rhythm because we were training at our homes during the lockdown. But that cannot be compared to what one can do at the camp when we train on mat,” said Punia, who is amongst the wrestlers training at Sports Authority Of India’s (SAI) Sonepat center.
“But we will only know our level and where we stand when we compete. A player needs to play otherwise they will never know where they stand,” Punia acknowledged.
Two tournaments are scheduled for Poland (November 4 to 8) and Russia (November 7 to 8) but Punia is not very eager to participate in those tournaments.
“At these events, any number of wrestlers can come but at the Worlds only one wrestler in each category will be there, so I don’t think it’s prudent to travel to either Russia or Poland,” he said.
“We are not sure if even the Worlds will be held. We are hearing that fresh coronavirus cases are increasing in Europe,” he added.
For him, Olympics is the target. After all, he is one of the three male freestyle wrestlers to have qualified for the mega-event.
“So what, we have to start from somewhere and since everyone is sailing in the same boat, it is ok. Olympics is the target,” he said
“From the time training restarted to now, the wrestlers have improved considerably…The true test of where the wrestlers stand will only come when they participate in competitions,” said Jagmander Singh, coach of the National Team.
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