CHENNAI: On the mat he is a different beast but off it Bajrang Punia is as human as us. He has emotions and he feels. He was so distraught after losing his semifinal bout to Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan that he called his wife Sangeeta Phogat. And his conversation veered around that loss and the strapping around his injured knee. He told her, rather emotionally, "Aaj ya to toot kar aana hai, ya jeet kar aana hai (Today I will either return from mat badly hurt or with a medal)." Because he said he had decided to remove the strapping because it was distracting him.
"The injury he suffered during his Russia stint ahead of the Olympics definitely troubled him at the Games. But you must have watched that his right knee was not strapped today (Saturday) like yesterday (Friday). The reason why he didn't strap his knee was that he doesn't want to blame injury if he fails to secure a medal. Besides, strapping distract you and take your focus back on the injury. It makes an athlete overcautious as he/she keeps thinking about it and plays defensively to avoid further injury, which exactly is not Bajrang's way of competing," added Sangeeta, who herself is a 2018 Asian Championship bronze medallist and a silver medallist from the 2017 Commonwealth Championship.
Sangeeta admitted that the knee injury forced Bajrang to change his tactics at the Games. "He changed his style of play in the first bout against Emazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan which he won on criteria. You cannot commit mistakes at that level. He played defensively and did it brilliantly. He didn't get much time before the second bout as he got on the mat within 15 minutes of the opening bout but he won."
Sangeeta, youngest of the famed Phogat sisters, was flooded with calls after Bajrang defeated Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan 8-0 to secure a bronze medal for the country on Saturday. The couple had decided to marry after the Tokyo Olympics but got married in November last year as the Games was postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 27-year-old from Haryana had lost his semifinal bout 12-5 on Friday. Sangeeta, however, said the opponent was constantly holding Bajrang's singlet and should have been cautioned for that. "The coach even reported it to the referee but Aliyev was not warned."
But the dejection has given way to ecstasy after Bajrang won a medal on his Olympic debut. The colour of the medal doesn't matter at the moment as Sangeeta firmly believes her husband can better his performance come the next Olympics.