Bajrang to train in Russia ahead of Tokyo Games
NEW DELHI: Bajrang Punia says he will focus entirely on training in the final phase of preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. Punia had earmarked the Poland Ranking Series (June 8-13) and Yasar Dogu meet (June 25-27) before the Olympics starting on July 23.
Travel restrictions and quarantine rules have meant he has had to constantly change his plans. Punia now plans to train in Russia and has applied for visa. India’s top wrestling medal contender has been grounded at home since last month as the second wave of pandemic has made travel difficult for Indian athletes. He last competed at the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan where he won silver after forfeiting his final bout against Japan’s Takuto Otoguro due to an elbow problem.
“There has been a change of plan. I need training. So, I am not participating in Poland. I will go to Russia where there is no quarantine. I can just give a Covid test and start training. I will see if I can stay there and go straight to the Olympics but that is now confirmed now,” Punia said during an interaction organised by the SAI on Saturday.
“With two months remaining for the Olympics, my focus is on training and sparring with quality partners. It is difficult to prepare in India at the moment. I don’t have good sparring partners. My sparring partner Jitender Kinha (74kg) had surgery (knee). Also, there can’t be any national camp at this time because of long quarantine.”
Punia said he doesn’t want risk injury in competition two months before the Olympics. “The elbow is fine after rehab. I can fight but the Olympics is more important and that’s why I did not compete at the Asian Championships final. Ranking is not that important because eventually it will not make much difference whether you are seeded one or two. There are 10-12 good wrestlers and anybody can beat anyone. There are no favourites in 65kg,” said the three-time world championships medallist.
Punia also explored the possibility of getting training partners abroad but that did not happen. He trained with his coach Emzarios Bentinidis at JSW’S Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) in Ballari, Karnataka. He is now back home in Sonepat waiting for the visa to issued.
In Russia, Punia is looking to train with Rio Olympics gold medallist Soslan Ramonov in 65kg and world champions Zaurbek Sidakov (74kg) and David Baev (70kg). “I trained in Russia before the worlds in 2019 and there is no dearth of good wrestlers to spar with. I don’t want a heavy workload at this point and the focus will be on training with partners.”
The 65kg world champion Gadzhimurad Rashidov is also from Russia.