CHENNAI: Injuries seem to spur wrestler Bajrang Punia on. It happened last year at the Tokyo Olympics where he competed with his injured right knee to win a bronze medal. It happened again at the ongoing World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Despite sustaining a serious head injury in his first bout of the 65kg weight category, he not only competed with his skull bandaged heavily but also finished on the podium, winning his fourth Worlds medal. For the record, he is the only male wrestler from the country to win two or more medals at the marquee event.
Ahead of the bout, his coach Sujeet Maan had confirmed to this daily that the injury is serious. "Bajrang sustained a deep cut on his skull during his first bout against the Cuban wrestler. We didn't go for stitches then as they could have opened up during the bouts," Maan told this daily after the bronze medal play-off.
The 28-year-old Haryana wrestler injured his head during his pre-quarterfinal bout against two-time Worlds bronze medallist Alejandro Enrique Valdes Tobier. He though managed to win the contest 5-4 but went on to lose the next round to USA's Yianni Diakomihalis 0-10 on technical superiority. With the American wrestler reaching the final, Bajrang got yet another shot at the bronze medal via the repechage round.
Given the injury he has sustained, Bajrang was forced to change the bandage before every bout. "We changed the bandage ahead of his quarterfinal bout against the American wrestler on Saturday and did it twice today (Saturday) with two bouts lined-up in quick succession," the coach added.
The injury, notwithstanding, Bajrang never thought of forfeiting the bouts. "Injuries are part and parcel of the game. The thought of forfeiting the bouts never crossed his mind. He wanted to win a medal and he did that by braving the injury," said the coach.
The 2020 Tokyo Games bronze medallist met Armenian Vazgen Tevanyan in the repechage round. Vazgen took a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes of the first period but Bajrang managed to narrow down the gap by earning one point by pushing his rival off the mat (stepout).
Bajrang, who was playing cautiously till then, went on the offensive in the second and final period securing two points for a takedown and then applying 'Irani tangi' technique to roll over his opponent twice to add four more points to his tally. Leading 7-4, the Armenian grappler then effected a takedown to earn two points. However, Bajrang then managed to hold on to the one-point lead to win the contest.
Sebastian C Rivera of Puerto Rico was his opponent in the bronze medal play-off and the bout started with Sebastian attacking Bajrang's leg from the word go. The strategy yielded rich dividends as he secured a 6-0 lead in the first 40 seconds of the first period. Bajrang, however, made a big comeback by effecting four points take down and then earning two more to be on level terms. However, a few seconds before the end of the first period, he conceded two points to go into the break trailing 6-8.
The second period was no different as the Indian wrestler conceded a stepout point. With time running out, Bajrang came up with another two points takedown to cut down the lead. In the dying seconds, he won two more points to go ahead. Rivera went all out and even effected a takedown but the referee didn't award him the points as the second period was over before he could execute the move. His camp challenged the decision but was unsuccessful.
Once the challenge was turned down, Bajrang removed his bandage to celebrate his fourth Worlds medal. He won his first medal at the event in 2013 when he pocketed bronze. He won a silver in the 2018 edition before winning another bronze next year, which also helped him make the Tokyo Olympics cut.