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NEW DELHI: India’s star wrestler and a huge medal prospect at the Tokyo Olympics, Bajrang Punia, has taken to boxing to rev up his preparations for the sporting extravaganza.
The 26-year-old is keen on improving his agility, reflexes as well as feet and body movement on the mat. Giving him company in this “innovative” training regimen is the young Jitender Kinha, a silver medallist at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships in the 74kg category.
Bajrang and Jitender are currently training at the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) in Vijayanagar (Bellary district), Karnataka, where they’ve been subjected to several novel ways of practice. Boxing coach Ronald Simms is training them.
“What we are trying to achieve through these boxing sessions is to improve our ability to move quickly with ease, better our hand-eye coordination, strengthen our mental agility and alertness. So far, it has been great to practice with the coach,” Bajrang said.
“In wrestling, movement plays a crucial role and these boxing lessons will help us a great deal. It is making us push past our limits,” Jitender chipped in. “The IIS is located in a hilly area. So we go for long runs and sprints. The challenge is to keep ourselves in top shape so that whenever any competition takes place, we will be ready to put our best foot forward.”
On Monday, Bajrang and Jitender finally got to reunite with their Georgian wrestling coach Shako Bentinidis. Shako had returned to India last month after getting required clearances from the Georgian and Indian governments. Since then, he has been under quarantine. For the first seven days, he was in isolation at a hotel in the Capital; later he flew to Vijayanagar, where he was again put in quarantine. Shako will begin training Bajrang and Jitender for the Olympics from next week onwards.
While Bajrang has already clinched quota for the Olympics in the 65kg freestyle category, Jitender is yet to qualify.
The 26-year-old is keen on improving his agility, reflexes as well as feet and body movement on the mat. Giving him company in this “innovative” training regimen is the young Jitender Kinha, a silver medallist at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships in the 74kg category.
Bajrang and Jitender are currently training at the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) in Vijayanagar (Bellary district), Karnataka, where they’ve been subjected to several novel ways of practice. Boxing coach Ronald Simms is training them.
“What we are trying to achieve through these boxing sessions is to improve our ability to move quickly with ease, better our hand-eye coordination, strengthen our mental agility and alertness. So far, it has been great to practice with the coach,” Bajrang said.
“In wrestling, movement plays a crucial role and these boxing lessons will help us a great deal. It is making us push past our limits,” Jitender chipped in. “The IIS is located in a hilly area. So we go for long runs and sprints. The challenge is to keep ourselves in top shape so that whenever any competition takes place, we will be ready to put our best foot forward.”
On Monday, Bajrang and Jitender finally got to reunite with their Georgian wrestling coach Shako Bentinidis. Shako had returned to India last month after getting required clearances from the Georgian and Indian governments. Since then, he has been under quarantine. For the first seven days, he was in isolation at a hotel in the Capital; later he flew to Vijayanagar, where he was again put in quarantine. Shako will begin training Bajrang and Jitender for the Olympics from next week onwards.
While Bajrang has already clinched quota for the Olympics in the 65kg freestyle category, Jitender is yet to qualify.
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