GANDHINAGAR: Like several elite athletes, star wrestler Bajrang Punia also decided to skip the ongoing 2022 Gujarat National Games due to a head injury he sustained at the World Championships in Belgrade. Despite missing the event, he tried to have the feel of the Games being held after seven years as he visited the wrestling arena here at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on Saturday.
The four-time Worlds medallist has several titles in his brimming trophy cabinet but the National Games accomplishment is missing from it. And he regrets it. "I feel strongly about competing at the event as I have played several tournaments including Worlds and Olympics but never featured at the National Games. I miss that joy of competing here," Bajrang said on the sidelines of the wrestling event. The Haryana grappler had missed the previous edition held in 2015 as he was in the USA training for international events.
He was all praise for the Gujarat government. "I congratulate the Gujarat government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hosting such an event with the infrastructure of international standard. It's very rare to watch athletes being given such facilities at the national tournament. It feels like I am witnessing an international meet."
Bajrang suffered a head injury during his first bout at the Worlds. He lost the next bout to US' Yianni Diakomihalis but came back strongly in the repechage round and won two bouts to claim bronze despite nursing the injury. "The time was very short after the Worlds and the injury didn't help my case either, otherwise I would have loved to compete here. After coming back I got the stitches as well. Now the wound is healing and I have started training as well," he added.
Almost all the big wrestling events are over for this year and Bajrang now wants to focus on Pro Wrestling League scheduled in January next year. "The Wrestling Federation of India will conduct the league next year. Apart from that, the Asiad and Worlds too are scheduled for next year. The World Championships will be the first qualifying event for the 2024 ParIs Olympics. So the next year will be very important for all the wrestlers," the 65kg wrestler said.
Speaking of his performance at the Worlds, he expressed satisfaction and said, "I conceded points while playing aggressively but the good thing is that I earned back points as well. Obviously, there is always a scope for improvement and I am working hard to work on it. It's a continuous process and improvement will happen gradually," Bajrang said.
For the next month and a half, the Olympics bronze medallist will train in the country and then leave for an exposure trip if everything goes as per plan. "We have planned an exposure trip to Russia or the USA. If the trip is sanctioned, I will train there ahead of the big events lined-up next year," he signed off.