Indian wrestlers have good chance of winning 3-4 medals at Olympics: Bajrang Punia

By Harpal Singh Bedi

New Delhi, 2 August: Asian Games champion Bajrang Punia has promised a better showing by the Indian wrestlers at the Tokyo Olympics next year saying that country can expect at least three to four medals in this sport at the games.

His assessment is based on wrestlers’ performances at the World Championship. “I think we will win three to four medals from wrestling in the Olympics.

According to him the world championship is a tougher tournament than the Olympics and “we performed well there. So, I think Indian wrestlers are in top form which makes them strong contenders for a medal haul in Tokyo,”

Along with Punia (bronze, 65kg), Deepak Punia (silver, 86kg), Vinesh Phogat (bronze, 53kg) and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (bronze, 57kg) also won medals at the 2019 World Wrestling Championship in Kazakhstan and secured an Olympic berth in the process.

The Olympic Games, which were initially scheduled to take place in 2020, have been postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking on paddler Mudit Dani’s online live chat show ‘In the Sportlight’ the 26-year-old Punia said he would have lived a normal village life if he had not pursued wrestling. He also rated his first World Championship medal as the most memorable accolade of his career so far.

The Haryana grappler had an impressive outing at the 2013 World Championship where he won bronze at the age of 19.

Talking about the competition in his current weight category 65kg, Punia said: “I feel 65kg is the toughest category in the world. There is no wrestler who has successively won world championship titles or Olympic gold medals.

“There is always a new champion in every edition. There are strong wrestlers in this category who can beat anyone on their day.”

The grappler praised government and sports federations for organising events such as Khelo India. It has provided a much-needed platform for young athletes to showcase their talent.

“The way we have been organising events at the grassroot level such as Khelo India, a lot of youngsters are getting much-needed support from it which was not there earlier.

And if they keep getting this kind of support, not only in wrestling, India will win medals in every sport at the Olympics,” he concluded.

–India News Stream