CHENNAI: Aiming to fix the knee injury, which has been troubling him from even before the Olympics, ace wrestler Bajrang Punia is expected to consult Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala soon. Dr Pardiwala heads the Centre for Sports Medicine at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. The 65kg wrestler got the MRI scan done a few days ago and it is learnt that he has been advised to meet Dr Pardiwala, who has treated the country’s finest sportspersons including Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra and wrestlers like Sushil Kumar and Vinesh Phogat.
It is also learnt that Bajrang’s fellow wrestlers — Deepak Punia (86kg) and Sonam Malik (62kg) — have either consulted or are going to consult an expert soon for the injuries they have been nursing for quite some time now. Deepak, who missed out on an Olympic bronze by a whisker, battled the knee injury during his semifinal loss against USA’s David Taylor. Sources confirmed that Deepak also visited an expert in Mumbai a couple of days ago.
“We showed the MRI scan to a doctor here in Haryana and he advised us to meet Dr Pardiwala in Mumbai. We will soon make an appointment and meet him,” said a source tracking the development. Bajrang had suffered the injury during a local event in Russia ahead of the Tokyo Games. Later, he had admitted that the injury troubled him during the marquee event wherein he managed to win a bronze medal.
“Competing at the Olympics was understandable but now he cannot risk it further. As far as the upcoming World Championships is concerned, a call will be taken on participation only after consulting Dr Pardiwala,” the source said. The Worlds is scheduled in Oslo, Norway, from October 2 to 10. Incidentally, the Haryana wrestler had punched the Tokyo ticket by winning bronze in the 2019 World Championships.
Meanwhile, Bajrang’s foreign coach Shako Bentinidis had left the country a couple of days ago and is serving a mandatory 14-day quarantine in Georgia. The coach had arrived in the country along with the wrestler after the Games, expecting renewal of his contract that ended with the Olympics.