This is a proud moment for all the Indians as freestyle wrestler Bajrang Punia became India’s 1st gold medalist at the Asian Games 2018 on Sunday.
Moreover, the 24-year-old wrestler dedicated his medal to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away last week due to prolonged illness.
🥇CHAMPION 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/tIQIyXNXjS
— Bajrang Punia (@BajrangPunia) August 19, 2018
“I want to dedicate this medal to former PM Vajpayee ji,” said the gold medal winner.
Well, India’s wait for the first gold medal at the Asian Games 2018 was not long as Punia brought the gold medal after defeating Japanese rival Takatani Daichi in the 65 Kg freestyle wrestling final!
1st Gold Medal at #asiangames2018 By #BajrangPunia
@BajrangPunia
【 Men's freestyle wrestling (65kg) 】 pic.twitter.com/oY9NyiSX0n— Praveen Gavit 🎭 (@praveengavit10) August 20, 2018
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Bajrang Punia speaks on his victory
Bajrang Punia also revealed that speaking to his ‘guru’ Yogeshwar Dutt before the final helped them a lot. He added, “He (Yogeshwar) told me that I had won it in 2014 and you will have to win it this time. A 28-year gap for a wrestling gold (before Yogeshwar broke the jinx) is long. He had also advised to remain focus to the event.”
Sharing his success mantra, Punia said, “After my loss to Daichi in the past, I saw his videos and drafted my own techniques to handle him in the crunch situation. You can’t say anything in wrestling. I was leading, then he equalised. Such things keep happening, and if you keep thinking too much on how the bout is progressing you might lose the grip on the game. Try to give 100% in the bout.”
Further, he revealed that he never felt under pressure during his final match.
“I don’t take the pressure, and I did the same thing today too. I went out to fight in the middle and didn’t think anything else,” he added.
Well, the Haryanvi wrestler seems to be confident about his intentions when he said, “I am doing my job people will say what they want to. I don’t pay heed to what people say. I haven’t changed and I am what I used to be. I will dance when I want to, I will not dance when people want me to,”
Reveals Future plans
It seems that Bajrang Punia is aiming for something big.
He said, “The celebrations won’t last long as soon after returning home I will get down to prepare for the World Championships.”
Punia, further revealed his future plans and said, “Certainly, it’s a big medal to me. If you win a medal at the Asian Games you become a serious contender for the Olympics and I am already preparing for Tokyo.”
Indeed, Bajrang Punia is in top form and hungry to win, “I am working hard and will try and repeat my performance at the World Championship,” he said.
Further, he praised his foreign coach Shako (Emzar Bedineishvili) who brought about a lot of change in his technique.
The wrestler highlighted the need of winning and said, “When people start expecting from you then it’s your duty to perform well.”
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