Rankings don't matter much to me, says Bajrang Punia
Bajrang Punia has expressed his happiness of being the No. 1 wrestler in the 65kg category but at the same time added that rankings don’t matter to him and he only aims at winning medals. Punia has also said that the sport in India is heading in the right direction with many wrestlers in the top 10.
Bajrang Punia had got back to the topmost position in the rankings of United World Wrestling in the men’s 65kg freestyle category earlier in April this year. The Indian wrestler had gone past Russia’s Akhmed Chakaev to be at the number one position in the rankings. Although he feels happy with this achievement, Punia has the important thing in mind and that is to win medals for the country.
"I feel happy to be the number one wrestler but in a true sense, rankings doesn't matter much for me. My aim is to deliver my hundred per cent every time and get medals for my nation," Punia told IANS.
According to the star wrestlers, the sport in India is improving as there is an increase in the number of Indians on the list of top wrestlers in the world. As many as 15 wrestlers have registered their names on the recently-released rankings by the UWW.Â
"It shows that Indian wrestling is in the right direction as many of our wrestlers are in the top 10. It will certainly motivate others to do even better," the 25-year-old opined.
Earlier this year, Bajrang had become the first Indian to fight at the iconic Madison Square Garden last month. He was beaten by USA’s Yianni Diakomihalis 8-10 in the 65 kg category bout.Â
"It was a great moment to fight at Madison Square Garden as I am the only Indian who got an opportunity to do so. The American Wrestling Federation had invited me there and I learnt a lot there. It was a tough fight and I will always remember it. Many Indians came to watch the fight and cheered for me which boosted my confidence.
"I underwent training in America and the experience was great. Though the training is more or less same everywhere but the climate is ideal over there as in India, it gets difficult to practice in hot weather,” the wrestler concluded.
