Bajrang Punia says lack of physio in his team is hampering recovery from injury

Olympic bronze medalist wrestler Bajrang Punia has said that the absence of a regular physiotherapist in his team is hampering his recovery. The star grappler sustained a knee injury during a practice session earlier in January this year.

The 28-year-old star freestyle wrestler returned to competition after a long gap at the National Selection Trials in New Delhi on Thursday. He last competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games where he won a bronze medal in men's 65kg. Since then, the Indian wrestler has been skipping competitions to recover from a knee niggle.

Punia emerged victorious in 65kg at the trials to book a berth for next month’s Asian Championships in Mongolia.

“Since I don’t have a regular physio at my disposal, it is hampering my recovery process from a two-and-a-half month old left knee injury," revealed Punia on the sidelines of the National Selection Trials at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex on Thursday. "I’m doing rehabilitation on my own and have recovered 90 percent from the injury."

Punia has apprised the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) about the lack of support staff in his team, but the proposal is still in the pipeline.

“The recovery is very slow but I’m managing,” Punia explained.

WFI officials weren’t available to comment on the physio issue.

Punia had a cautious start to his first competition of the year on Thursday to avoid aggravating the injury.

“Chances of aggravating an injury is more during a domestic competition or trials," Punia said. "Therefore, I didn’t push hard in the initial stages of the final bout."

Punia took control of the final bout in the second half of the six-minute contest to score a 4-2 win over Rohit. Finalists in all the weight categories, including men’s Greco Roman, will represent India at the Asian Championships scheduled to be held from April 19-24 in Ulaanbaatar.

To prepare for the Asian Championships, Punia and his coach Sujeet Maan went to Iran in February for a month-long training session.

“There were good sparring partners in Iran," the Olympic medalist said. "I would say overall it was an excellent experience and it should pay off during upcoming competitions."

While wrestlers who competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were given direct entry into the finals of their respective weight categories, other competitors fought three or four bouts to enter the finals.

Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya got a walkover in the final of the men’s 57 kg group. Deepak Punia, who finished fourth at the 2020 Games, scored a 6-0 win over Vinod to book a berth for the Asian Championships in 86 kg.