CHENNAI: IN the wake of the deadly coronavirus, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had on Monday suspended national camps till March 31. The move was aimed at protecting wrestlers from getting infected. However, the move seems to have failed to serve the purpose. Most of these national campers are continuing with their training programmes at their respective centres.
Bajrang Punia (65kg), India’s biggest Olympic hope, and Jitender Kumar (74kg) have decided to train in Sonepat with foreign coach Shako Bentinidis. Despite the threat posed by the pandemic, the two wrestlers will follow normal training routines including bouts with their respective sparring partners. Familiarity seems to be the key as the grapplers apparently believe their sparring partners are healthy.“We’ll continue with the old training regimen. He (Bajrang) is undergoing physical training as well as having practice bouts with his sparring partner. Nothing changes much,” coach Bentinidis told this daily. “The disease should not come in the way of preparations. We are taking care but without tweaking plans,” added the Georgian coach.
“National camps were suspended, as the government advised all avoid public gatherings and maintain social distancing. Most of the wrestlers have left for home, but Bajrang requested to continue with his training in Sonepat. He must be sure about his sparring partner. That’s why he chose to train with him,” said Vinod Tomar, WFI assistant secretary.Most of the women wrestlers are also training at various centres. “I know these junior wrestlers for years. Outsiders are not allowed here to ensure that we stay safe,” said Nirmala (50kg), who is practising at the Police Academy in Karnal. Gursharanpreet Kaur (76kg) is training in Jalandhar.
While freestyle wrestlers preferred to go ahead with their regular training schedule, a few Greco-Roman wrestlers have decided to give practice bouts a skip at least for the time being. Six Greco-Roman wrestlers, all in Olympic weight categories, reached New Delhi on Tuesday morning cutting short their Azerbaijan trip. “None of us were asked to undergo self-quarantine upon arrival. Everyone will train at their centres now as the national camp has been suspended.
I have advised them to continue with their training to stay in shape but avoid bouts,” said Hargobind Singh, Greco-Roman national coach. Singh will continue training wrestlers at his centre in Faridkot. “We’ve suspended camps to shield wrestlers. Given the situation they are in, they might choose to train at their centres. We cannot direct them to give up training completely. They should be careful in choosing partners,” added Tomar.