“It’s just blood, will heal … I don’t accept defeat till the end. I won’t give up till 6 mins are over” Bajrang Punia on how he received bronze at wrestling World C’ships

Here’s what Bajrang Punia’s equally audacious wrestling spouse Sangeetha informed him after a head harm wouldn’t cease dripping blood and wanted bandaging on the latest World Championships: “Wo boli koi nai injury hui hai, iska patti karvaake, dobara se bronze ke liye khelo.” The blood isn’t any biggie, strap on some gauze and go for the bronze, he remembers on his return from a stupendous 4th World’s medal.

Bravado manifesting to work like boldness, has been central to Bajrang Punia’s massive event outings all these years. After 1 Olympic medal and 4 from the World Championships, bravado ceases sounding like a reckless factor he marinates his bulk in, when he’s tossed into glazing hearth. But on the matter of blood, Bajrang and Sangeeta – have made cavalier-morphing-to-courageous into one proper artwork kind.

It ought to have been a gold, but it surely may have been no medal additionally – such was his propensity to leak factors on a weak leg protection, and botch a chance the place some high names from Russia, Belarus and his Japanese nemesis had been absent. But it was the neon inexperienced taped face – his bulging eyes framed by it, extra like – that churned stomachs. Not Sangeeta’s, who informed Bajrang to get on with the job at hand, and nail the out there medal in repechage, unheeding of blood.

Bajrang Punia 𝙠𝙤 𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙣𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙠𝙞𝙡 𝙝𝙞 𝙣𝙖𝙝𝙞, 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙢-𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙝𝙖𝙞! 👑

The Indian wrestler put up a splendid present to win his fourth Wrestling Worlds medal a number of days again. 🤼‍♂️

Know extra: https://t.co/NoQwjUysFl@wrestling | @BajrangPunia | @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/UAGO5cV0oO

— Olympic Khel (@OlympicKhel) September 20, 2022

“Sangeeta motivated me a lot this time. Couldn’t really talk to family in between bouts. But Sangeeta was with me,” he says. “Ek baar mann tha ki zyada cut lag rahaa hai toh main na khelu. But unhone (Sangeeta) iss time mein saath diya. (At one point I thought I won’t play if it hurt too much but she helped). Iss medal mein unka kaafi yogdaan rahaa tha… Kyunki nai khelta toh medal ni jeet paata.” She performed an enormous position in pushing him to plod on after the medal.

She’s been an excellent sounding board in coaching too – blunt in declaring his errors, however all the time encouraging. “She’s also a wrestler, an athlete. So we understand each other’s game and can point out mistakes frankly. When I’m playing, I won’t know what the opponent is trying or what mistakes are happening. Later we can watch videos. But Sangeeta would tell me point to point, and next bout I could avoid those and improve,” he provides.

His personal derring-do is considerably legendary after the Olympics medal was secured after dramatically flinging off the tape holding collectively his knee. But he clinically assessed the bleeding head this time – neatly separating the hysterics that the sight of blood could cause somebody watching from exterior, with the precise discomfort the bleeder feels (not a lot, he burdened) when heading right into a combat.

“Injury hona hai, game mein toh chalti rahegi. (It happens in sport). At Olympics when I got the knee injury, I had thought surgery karvaa lunga, what’s the big deal. Many players have surgeries. Injuries happen in training also. But Olympics was my life’s biggest tournament.” At Belgrade, he knew all of the dripping blood wanted was stemming. Yahape bhi reduce lag rha hai. Toh theeke. Cut lagne se zyada se zyada khoon nikal jaega. Do din baad, dus din baad wo theek ho jaega. Medal pehle zaroori hai.” The reduce would inevitably heal in 8-10 days, he reasoned. The medal wanted pocketing. Sangeeta seconded him.

World’s & Bajrang’s varied wars

Becoming the primary Indian with 4 medals from World Championships during the last decade isn’t any imply feat – by no means thoughts the gold isn’t but trapped down. 2013, when he first received bronze, set off a convention: beginning with a loss to a Bulgarian. He remembers it like yesterday; additionally as a result of final week panned out just like that.

“2013. Best moment. I was only 18-19. Thought if I won so young I could definitely win more medals for the country. The 2013 medal gave me the confidence of that. I had lost first bout to Bulgaria. Did not think he would make final and I would get the repechage opportunity,” he remembers of the 61 kg division then.

World’s medals had been fairly uncommon again then. “We had only 5-6 world medals in Indian history. Ye kaha jaega..Kept thinking he ll lose next round, then next, then next. Didn’t expect him to make finals because there was 2012 silver medallist from Olympics and Mongolians. But when he reached final, I drubbed next 2-3 wrestlers easily. Had I kept thinking that I won’t be able to win… I wouldn’t have. My friends and coaches then motivated me that I could win because I had worked so hard. I got that encouragement. I couldn’t believe I had a world Championships medal.”

4️⃣th Worlds medal for @BajrangPunia 🤼‍♂️

Our Tokyo Olympics BRONZE medalist has bagged a BRONZE🥉 once more. This time on the Wrestling World Championships (FS 65kg) in Belgrade🤩

His World Championships CV now:

SILVER – 2018
BRONZE – 2013, 2019, 2022#WrestleBelgrade pic.twitter.com/vF1kOEEflL

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 18, 2022

It took one other 5 years to get a shot in 65kg. He nurses the bitterness of that misplaced closing, like an excellent roiling remorse. It retains him sharp. “2018 silver. I’ll never forget. I could’ve been champion against Japanese who’s sitting with the Olympic title in 2021,” he says correctly salty.

The Japanese saved stopping for frivolous causes with medical timeouts, Bajrang reckons. “Wrestling only stops if you are bleeding or there’s major injury! Can’t complain that ankle is hurting… He kept stopping and resuming, stopping and resuming and sat down claiming his ankle hurt. So in 2018 final, what should have been a 6 minute fight turned into a 10-12 min bout. He took rest when he got tired and kept calling doctors to tend to ankle and stopping. It will always hurt, I’ll never forget that they made a mistake. It haunts me still. If referee hadn’t favoured him, result could have been different,” he rants. It’s debatable if solely the stoppages broke the Indian’s rhythm, but it surely added to his World Championships litany.

A 12 months later in 2019, Bajrang had professional causes to really feel robbed when the officiating desk blatantly leaned in with the native Kazakh grappler in Kazakhstan, merely refusing to award eye-popping fouls, and overtly giving throwdown factors to the Kazakh whereas Bajrang had initiated the throw. That semifinal earns a growl too.

“2019 same thing happened. It’s happened 2-3 times in World Championships with me. Semis vs Kazakhstan. We protested to UWW and they even said Sorry that it won’t happen again.. Had I made the finals, could’ve won gold. But result doesn’t change just by saying Sorry again and again for a poor decision. What’s lost is lost. I’ll never forget. We work hard, and then cheating happens and that too at top level, it’s difficult to forget these things,” he says.

Blood might be gushing out, or low cost factors trickling away, Bajrang fancies himself to be a tank that may roll over anybody stopping him from a medal.

It’s one of many issues – denied legit equity – that pushes him to go cavalier when a second likelihood medal dangles. Though, his earliest coach Virender from Chhara akhada, traces it again to his childhood. “His father was a wrestler, and mother injected that never-give-up tendency in him. This one time he didn’t make the Haryana squad, he pleaded for an opportunity. When I played him from Delhi, he demolished the field” the coach remembers. “I don’t think he ever believes he’s trailing in any bout till the last second,” he provides.

It’s how he overturned a 0-6 deficit, with factors on a weak leg provided on a platter, by snapping along with his sheer unforgiving energy. “We work hard for medals. We play for the country. If we have gone there representing the country, then it’s our job to give our best till the last second. Results are not in our hand. Working hard is. We should not waste even a tiny opportunity to win medal, from want of trying. No one should say, a player was sent and did not give his all for the country, or he could’ve don’t this or that instead to get the medal,” Bajrang says.

Blood might be gushing out, or low cost factors trickling away, Bajrang fancies himself to be a tank that may roll over anybody stopping him from a medal. “0-6, when I play it doesn’t cross my mind that score is 6-0 or 8-0. Only thing running through head is to give it everything, give my best in 6 minutes. I don’t accept defeat till the end. Be it 8-0, 9-0 or what ever. I won’t give up till 6 mins are over.” It’s simply blood. It will clot. Just factors on the leg. They will cease. Adrenaline although, is limitless.