Bajrang’s Asian Championship silver medal raises several red flags

Bajrang Punia settled for a silver, but there’s barely any silver lining to his Asian Championship medal.
The only consolation, if any, was that the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal reached the final in his first international competition since the Games last year. But the gold medal bout, against the junior world champion from Iran Rahmad Mousa Amouzadkhalili, should be a forewarning.
If the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal bout was a show of sheer bravado – with Bajrang flinging aside his knee strapping and going all out, even risking his injured knee in the process – Saturday’s Asian Championship final was the very antithesis of that bout. It was conservative, cagey and lacked the velocity that’s usually associated with the Indian star.
In that sense, Bajrang’s performance was similar in nature to the one at last month’s selection trials for the continental championship, where he was far from convincing in his narrow win over Rohit Singh in the final.

Heartiest congratulations to India’s Freestyle Men Wrestlers on clinching 5️⃣ medals at the ongoing #AsianChampionships2022 taking 🇮🇳’s medal tally to 1️⃣5️⃣ 🥳🥳
🥇 @ravidahiya60 (57kg)🥈 @BajrangPunia (65kg)🥈 #GouravBaliyan (79kg)
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— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) April 23, 2022
It can partly be put down to rustiness. Bajrang, after all, has rarely been away from the mat for such a long period. But largely, it can be attributed to mismanagement on the part of everyone involved in managing the wrestler.
In the eight-month gap between his two international tournaments, Bajrang has primarily been trying to recuperate from his knee injuries. He hurt his right knee during a tournament in Russia just before the Olympics last year. Then, in January, while he was still recovering, he injured his left knee as, he claimed, all the pressure came on one leg. However, after the selection trials last month, he claimed he was undergoing rehab, without a full-time physiotherap who could monitor his rehab.
“I was recovering from a knee injury and doing my own rehab with no doctor or physio. I had their services till the Olympics. After that, I requested… but no one was made available… I have not been able to train continuously because of the injuries. Had there been a physio, I would have been fit now and played in the ranking series,” Bajrang, who had to skip two international tournaments this year because of the injury, had said after the selection trials.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and the Sports Authority of India pointed fingers at the Railways for not releasing Dr. Anand Kumar, whose services Bajrang had requested in an email dated November 22, 2021. Then, they blamed Bajrang for not choosing to avail services of two physios at the national camp.
Post Olympics, the WFI has discouraged wrestlers from working with personal physios. On the other hand, Bajrang, until now one of the fittest Indian athletes, has claimed he needs one since ‘he has been getting injured more frequently’.
Simply put, it’s been an example of how not to support an athlete, least of all an Olympic, world and Asian medal and someone who firmly remains a contender for the Paris Games in two years’ time.On Saturday, the effects of these decisions and delays were visible. Throughout his bout against Amouzadkhalili, Bajrang looked hesitant to go all out in attack, perhaps still not confident about the recovery of his knee, at on occasions, seemed lacking a strategy as he got undone the Iranian’s underhooks and leg-holds. Bajrang, favourite to win the gold in a relatively weaker field, succumbed to a 3-1 defeat.
It’s only going to get tougher for the Indian in the upcoming tournaments, especially the Asian Games where his nemesis Takuto Otoguro of Japan is likely to return. then, Bajrang, who said at the trials last month he was 90 percent fit, will hope to recover fully and have a proper support system like before.

News Flash:Ravi Kumar Dahiya wins 1st GOLD medal (FS 57kg) for India in Asian Wrestling Championships at Mongolia after comprehensively beating Kazakh wrestler 12-2 in Final. #WrestleUlaanbaatar pic.twitter.com/8vPrkL1mY1
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) April 23, 2022
Dahiya’s golden hat-trick
While Bajrang stumbled at the final hurdle, Ravi Dahiya has emerged as the undisputed best in Asia in the 57kg weight category once again. The Olympics silver medal won his third-straight continental gold, beating Kazakhstan’s Rakhat Kalzhan technical superiority – that is, with a point differential of 10.
Dahiya, who won a silver medal at the Don Kolov tournament earlier this year, has been unstoppable since winning his first Asian title three years ago. Since then, he has medalled in almost every tournament he has taken part in, including the Tokyo Games. And on Saturday, he extended his dominance, swatting aside his opponents with utmost ease.
In each bout, Dahiya conceded points early on but in his trademark style, he bounced back with his tremendous speed and skill. He outsmarted Japan’s Rikuto Arai technical superiority and then defeated Mongolia’s Zanabazar Zandanbud 12-5 to reach the final, which he made a one-sided affair and won halfway into the second period to clinch the gold.