CHENNAI: Four Indian wrestlers will step onto the mat as seeds at the Wrestling World Championships starting on September 14. Bajrang Punia is the only top seed and the 65kg man will be India’s best hope at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Second seed Seema is also one to look out for, in the 50kg category, after her exploits at Yasar Dogu 2019 Ranking Series, where she bagged gold. Rahul Aware, second seed in 61kg, and Deepak Punia, fourth seed in 86kg, are the other seeded contenders.
In the 74kg, it will also be interesting to see the return of veteran Sushil Kumar as he looks to relive his golden glory after nine years.
Bajrang has progressed from a 60kg bronze in 2013 to a 65kg silver last year. However, the top place has been eluding him and he will be determined to become only the second Indian after Sushil to win a gold in the competition. In the past year, the 25-year-old has been crowned champion of Asia and also climbed to the top in world rankings. Exposure trips have added to his intelligence and enhanced his ability to gauge the opponents more swiftly.
“Training abroad with foreign athletes has helped me grow as a wrestler,” said Bajrang. “Sparring with some of the best names in Georgia, Russia and the USA has made me more aware of my opponents. Besides, having my own team of coach, physio, trainer and sports science support staff has instilled a lot of confidence into me ahead of the World Championships which is also an Olympic qualifier this time.”