CHENNAI: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia's search for a foreign coach is turning out to be a never-ending process. The wrestler had approached Ukrainian Andriy Stadnik, the 2008 Beijing Olympics medallist, and the latter had even agreed to work with him.
However, Stadnik was recently given a bigger responsibility with the Ukrainian national team making it impossible for him to coach the Indian till the 2024 Olympics. The 27-year-old also approached a Russian coach but he expressed his inability to move to India to train Bajrang (65kg).
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Games silver medallist, Ravi Dahiya (57kg), has decided to train under Indian coaches instead of looking for a foreign coach and communicated his decision to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). He had trained under Russian Kamal Malikov till the Tokyo Olympics.
"Stadnik was ready but now he has been offered a role with the national team so it's not possible for him to coach me. I also approached a Russian coach and he was also interested. However, he wants me to train abroad with him for a majority of time, which is practically impossible as I want the coach to stay till the 2024 Games," Bajrang told this daily.