#RoadToTokoOlympics: Bajrang Punia - The man who never stops!

 

India has no short of wrestlers, thanks to 'Dangal' or 'Akhada' that gave many births to quality wrestlers who are busy representing the nation at international events. Among these wrestlers, Bajrang Punia has emerged as one of the ace Indian wrestlers. This has been proved after Punia at the Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, made it to the semi-final stage of the competition in the freestyle 65kg to seal a place at Tokyo Olympics.

 

 

Hailing from Jhajjar, Haryana, Bajrang Punia has risen fast to become the beacon of Indian wrestling and owes much of it to the influence the sport had on him as a kid. Growing up in humble surroundings, Punia did not have the money to take up sports that like cricket or badminton that needed expensive equipment. Kids preferred free-hand sports like kabaddi and wrestling and the ‘akhara’ (wrestling area) was a popular destination in his town.

 

 

Nevertheless, his journey to earn success in his wrestling career started with a loss. Yes. It's right. In 2011, when Punia was a regular in the dangal circuit, he had injured his neck that kept him out for close to six-seven months. With no one by his side, Bajrang Punia, then a raw 17-year-old, had to fend for himself. This loss does not stop here. When he finally started to find his rhythm in wrestling, the loss once again came back in 2015.

 

 

Even World No.1 believed that it was the heartbreaking loss at the 2015 World wrestling championships. After winning his maiden world championship medal in Budapest in 2013, Punia went to the Las Vegas world event in 2015 rather underprepared. Injuries had kept Bajrang away from the mat for nine months, but despite the gap and nagging back pain, he did well to reach the bronze medal round in the US. But, a loss to Ukrainian Vasyl Shuptar on a technicality meant Bajrang had to return empty-handed.

 

 

However, what inspires about him is this attitude towards such failure. It had pushed him to work harder in his career. Since then Bajrang Punia has gone from strength to strength. Being three-time medallist at Worlds and a slew of medals at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Championships, Bajrang Punia has become a top prospect for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. But Bajrang’s past experiences mean he isn’t taking his status for granted.

 

"Everyone sees the highs of an athlete’s careers, no one sees the dark days," the Haryana wrestler pointed out. "I have realised how much an injury can hamper an athlete’s career. I have to be cautious," Bajrang said. He surely knows the slip between the cup and the lip.

 

 

The 27-year-old is a man of many firsts. He is the first Indian wrestler to be ranked world No. 1 in any category, the first Indian to win two world championship medals, and the first Indian to play in the renowned German League.

 

Now, he wants to compete in a few more tournaments before boarding the Tokyo flight for the Olympics. But why when he has already qualified for the Olympics? The top wrestler is eyeing to improve every aspect of his wrestling ahead of the 2020 Olympics in the upcoming tournaments. "I will be working on these weaknesses, make sure I don't repeat my mistakes, and try to improve both my attack and defense as Olympics is not an opportunity that you always get," he pointed out.