CHENNAI : In the end, it was heartbreak for wrestler Deepak Punia at his maiden World Championship in September, despite finishing with a silver medal and qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. An ankle injury and a swollen eye forced him to opt out of the 86kg final in Kazakhstan, robbing him a chance of becoming only the second Indian wrestler after Sushil Kumar to win gold at the Worlds.
The 21-year-old remained away from the sport for more than a month and even had his sprained ankle in a cast before recovering and returning to the mat at the Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi. Deepak, who in August also became India’s first junior world champion after 18 years, is fit now and looking forward to compete in his first international event after the World Championship.
“The Ranking Series in Italy will be my first international competition after the World Championships,” Deepak told this daily. The event will be held in Rome from January 15 to 18. The tournament will have participants from across the world in all three styles — freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.
The Yasar Dogu meet in Istanbul will be held prior to the Italy event from January 10 to 12, but Deepak will be skipping it as the Ranking Series will help him keep his World No 1 ranking intact. With 82 points, he jumped to the top spot following his exploits at the World Championships. Hassan Yazdani of Iran, who bagged gold in Nur-Sultan after Deepak pulled out, is second behind the Indian with 78 points.
“Ranking Series is priority at the moment and I am practising hard for it. I will also train with my foreign coach in Russia ahead of the tournament. The plan has not been finalised yet, but I am expecting to leave for Russia soon,” said the former World cadet champion.
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) appointed Olympic silver medallist Murad Gaidarov as Deepak and Ravi Dahiya’s coach soon after the Worlds. Ravi was among the four Indians who qualified for Tokyo from Nur-Sultan. The coach had a few sessions with the duo at the Chhatrasal Stadium in October. “He left for Russia after a few sessions with us in Delhi. We (Ravi and me) will meet him in Russia and start training there,” Deepak signed off.