World No. 1 wrestler Bajrang Punia said he has mastered some new techniques and wants to showcase those in the Asian wrestling championships to be held in Xian, China, from April 23 to 28.
Notwithstanding his string of fine performances for two years, Punia, a World championships silver medallist, has been working on sharpening his skills under the watchful eyes of his personal coach Shako Bentinidis and other coaches in the National camp.
Watching videos
“I am working on leg defence, attack and some new techniques. Every coach gives his inputs. You never know which technique can come in handy in which bout. I watch others’ videos, likewise other wrestlers also watch my videos. I will try to use the new techniques in the Asian championships (to surprise my opponents),” Bajrang told The Hindu .
The 25-year-old has a well laid-out plan until the World championships, which will serve as an Olympic qualifying event.
“After the Asian championships, I will go directly to Russia for the Ali Aliev Memorial meet. Then I will have 20-25 days training in the USA. I will participate in the ranking series in Turkey before competing in the World championships.
“Some of my best performances came in 2017 and 2018. So far, 2019 — in which I competed in the Pro Wrestling League, German league and won a gold medal in the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in Bulgaria — has been good. I will try to maintain it till 2020. I hope to take a medal in the Olympics.”
Special mention
Bajrang made a special mention of his experience of competing in the German league. “For the first time, an Indian participated in the German league. Overall, the experience was good. I felt like as if I am wrestling in India because I got a lot of love from people.”
Even though Bajrang is delighted to be ranked No. 1 in the world, he does not get carried away by it. “Everyone wants to be No. 1. If I am No. 1, then I should be able to beat everyone. It’s a good thing for Indian wrestling as it will inspire the youngsters.”
