New Delhi: His dominance is undisputed in the 65kg at the global level but wrestler Bajrang Punia will not ask for an exemption from the World Championships trials next month. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is expected to organise the trials for the Worlds in the last week of July.
In the last 10 international tournaments, Bajrang has lost just one bout – the World Championship final (2018) – where Japan’s Takuto Otoguro bothered him with leg attacks throughout. Hence Bajrang is working to improve is leg defence.
World No.1, Bajrang is aiming to seal an Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championships, scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan in September.
Asked how he has not been able to master the leg defence as yet, the 25-year-old said it’s due to ‘old habits’.
“Old habits die hard. I grew up competing on mud, where you mostly stand and compete. But on the mat, you have to keep leaning forward. That’s perhaps the reason, why my leg defence could not be strong. The course correction is taking some time, because the habit is embedded in me,” Bajrang told this agency, Tuesday.
“I am sorting out my leg defence at a camp in Turkey. The coach wants me to qualify for the Olympics at the Worlds so that we have one full year to strengthen my game before the Tokyo Games,” Bajrang said from Jalandhar, where he signed a deal with Japanese footwear giant ASICS to be their brand athlete.
Bajrang is not a part of the national camp, which began recently at the SAI centre in Sonepat, as the WFI has allowed him to train with his personal support staff. However, the two-time World Championship medallist is not going to ask for an exemption from trials.
“I am ready for the trials. I can’t say I won’t compete. If the federation, on its own, decides to exempt me that’s different,” Bajrang said.
Why has he opted to train in Istanbul this time as he was in Georgia in the recent past? “It’s a good camp organised by the Turkey Federation. The quality of sparring partners is better there, since a lot of good wrestlers from Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Turkey gather in Istanbul,” Bajrang pointed out.
Bajrang had missed out on the prestigious Khel Ratna last year and was left frustrated and angry. Is he hoping to get it this time?
“I am not saying give it to me. I am saying give it to the deserving candidate who has more points. There should not be any politics involved in sport. If somebody is more deserving, give it to that athlete,” asserted the trials.
PTI
