INVINSIBLE BAJRANG HOWEVER AT TIMES OFF AT TIMES BRILLIANT

BELLIGERENCY AT TIMES NEEDS BEING A BIT DEFENSIVE

There is no end to the list of the GREAT wrestlers that India has produced and now it keeps on throwing in the international arena It was Kasaba Jadhav in 1952 when he sprang a surprise by winning a Bronze in the World Olympics at Helsinki .A few years later in the World wrestling Championship that was held at New Delhi we had seen how Bishamber Singh had sprang surprises after surprises to be on the podium on that night
The exploit was there for everybody to see when Chandgi Ram won the GOLD at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1970 In 1970 again a 14 years of age a WRESTLER by the name of Ved Prakash won the Commonwealth GOLD to become the YOUNGEST ever wrestler to win a GOLD for his country in the world and that too at a age of 14
The Munich Olympics , 1972 saw Sudesh Kumar and satpal Singh reaching the semis of the wrestling event losing in an most acronymic manner yet making the wordl take notice of that
Then came the moment in the 2012 Olympics where for the first time India got TWO medals from Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar IT WAS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE ANNALS OF INDIAN OLYMPICS THAT IN AN SINGLE EDITION AN OLYMPICS INDIA RECEIVED TWO MEDALS IN THE WRESTLING

In between the womens’ also has many a things to contribute One might not believe me INDIA  OVER THE LAST 8 YEARS HAS BECOME THE 6^TH BEST WRESTLING NATION IN TERMS OF WHAT THE DPORTS CAN OFFER IN THE WORLD
One of the MOST popular wrestler today in the WORLD is Bajrang Punia and he is the FIRST wrestler from the entire Asian Subcontinent to be ranked NUMBER ONE in the world today in the 65 Kilograms of that event
He would be watched world over and especially the country for his exploit in the Tokyo Olympics Bajrang in the last eight International comptetition that he has participated has won a GOLD in one of the invitational wresdtling event and has missed the GOLD on one occasion in the World Wrestling Championship He has recently won a Bronze to qualify for the Olympics at Tokyo along with Vineesh Phogat, Deepak Punia and Ramesh This is a huge fillip for India What made this World Wrestling competition wort nmore was that  IT IS FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT WE HAVE SEEN INDIA COMING OUT WITH FOUR MEDALS IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP I THINK SO IT IS FIVE AS ANOTHER LADY HAS WON A BRONZE This completely retells all about India in terms of it’s strength in the areana of wrestling
Inspite of what we see in Bajrang who according to me definitely is going to get us an Olympic medal there are  at times I see Bajrang losing the grip and giving it away to his rival That PAINS us There has always been this with him He  either amasses a walloping lead to finish it as a lucky one bu conceding too many a points to his rivals and it is again that whenever he is 0-5 or 0-6 down he comes out a winner by some means That is not the case The case is he allows his defense to get parched and make it porous for his opponent to outsmart him and that causes a lot of PAIN
Asian Games Wrestling 2014 : The First Exploit
The first of that was in the Asian Games in 2014 where he was down ti that Iranian in the 60 Kilograms of the final bout by 1-5 He staged a brilliant magical recovery and tied it at 5-5 only to concede a point once again In the last 30 minutes he neutralised That There was a few second left for the bout to be over
In the rules of wrestling if both the wrestlers are tied at the same score the GOLD goes to him who would score the last point On that day Bajrang had scored the last point He was up as according to the rules of the games He should have danced around the ring and made hios opponent to make him around moving like the musical chair and it’s game The Iranian was chasing him What Bajrand did was he went for the final KILL and conceded a point and THAT WAS THAT
From 2014 to 2019 for the last five years Bajrang has added TREMENDOUS strength POWER energy and the stamina to his body Everybody in the world of wrestling in his category say that  THERE I NO ONE SO POWERFUL AND SO VERY STRONG LIKE BAJRANG From the 60 Kilograms of weight he moved into the 65 because the 60 Kilograms weight category has been disbanded by the International Olympic Assosciation  That again was a fantastic effort by him to move onto the new weight category and prove himself to the the very best But everybody say that his habit of losing the game and conceding the points as well as the bout is what that has NOT changed for him over the years
Adjectives Justified : He Proved and Proves That There Are No Equals To Him

There are days when Bajrang Punia justifies all the adjectives used to describe him. And there quite a few. The Americans refer to him as a ‘motor’. Some others prefer ‘tank’. Indians feel ‘tractor’ is a more appropriate description. His coach Shako Bentinidis, meanwhile, chooses to call him an ‘atom bomb’ – and on the mat, the Georgian wants Bajrang to explode like one.
All these are in reference to Bajrang’s raw power and endurance. Arguably, there’s not a wrestler in the 65kg class who can tire out the Indian in the six-minute bouts. The latest example of this was Friday’s World Championship bronze medal bout against Mongolia’s Tumur Ochir, where Bajrang scripted another second-round rally to come back from 6-0 down and win the playoff 8-7.
Greatest Strength Proving To Be His Weakness : Rectification Needed Quickly
Here’s the thing, though. Bajrang’s greatest strength is also turning out to be his biggest weakness, which has resulted in his undoing for a second consecutive World Championship. The bronze in Nur Sultan is a step down from the silver he won in the 2018 Worlds.
The colour of the medal, though, may not matter much given the world number 1’s priority was to secure a quota for next year’s Olympics and that he managed without having to work hard. And neither does it make Bajrang a lesser favourite for a medal at what will be his debut Olympics Games.
But in the larger scheme of things, keeping Tokyo in sight, the World Championships would be a sobering experience for the high-flying Indian.
Acutely aware of his supreme fitness, combined with the confidence of knowing he can force a turnaround within seconds, Bajrang likes taking his bouts to the very last minute; ready to punt on his stamina to get the better of the opponent’s skill.
UNLIKE “ HOUDINI “ : AT TIMES IT APPEARS TO BE LATE
At times, he leaves it till too late, like he did against Ochir on Friday or in the final of Asian Championship in March where he wiped off the advantage Kazakhstan’s Sayatbek Okassov had in the final minute of the bout. In fact, at the World Championships last year, his quarterfinal against Ochir followed similar pattern like Friday, with Bajrang leaving it late to overturn the deficit and win the bout 5-3. Even in the semis, he scored points in dying seconds to beat Cuba’s Alejandro Enrique Valdes Tobier 4-3.
Late revival
Bentinidis has previously said this habit of Bajrang makes his head ‘explode’ on the sidelines. The high risk, high reward strategy makes him look spectacular when it ends well. On the occasions it does not, it makes Bajrang look miserable.
“ It is almost like he starts the bout with a score of -3 or -4 because he gives so many early points. Against top opponents, it becomes difficult,” Bentinidis said.
It can’t be a coincidence that Bajrang has lost two crucial bouts at consecutive World Championships like that. Against Japan’s Takuto Otoguro in the 2018 final, Bajrang conceded five points in the opening 30 seconds and was always playing catch up. Otoguro, one of the best in this weight class, did not give Bajrang any opening and was extra careful in the closing stages of the bout to deny the 25-year-old Indian a chance to make a comeback.
On Thursday, Bajrang once again let Daulat Niyazbekov take a 7-point lead and even though Bajrang did his thing and levelled the score to make it 9-9, the wrestler from Kazakhstan – despite looking knackered towards the end – did just enough to deny his rival a chance to complete his fight back.
Even at Beat the Streets – a high-profile invitational tournament in New York – USA’s Yianni Diakomihalis took an 8-4 lead early in the second period. And even though Bajrang lived up to the expectations and made it 8-8, Diakomihalis – who can be one of the contenders in Tokyo – had the skill and stamina to nick a couple of points late in the match to win 10-8.
In all the above-mentioned cases, Bajrang could not pull off his trademark late surges against wrestlers who are technically solid, a point that has kept Bentinidis up at nights. “Olympics is a serious competition. You must give everything. One poor bout or 30 bad seconds, and it is goodbye Olympics,” he said. “It’s not good to leave it so late always. He needs to start attacking earlier in a bout.”
The World Championship was also a platform to see where Bajrang stood in comparison to other medal contenders, given he hasn’t competed against them in a high-intensity tournament since the previous Worlds. His continental title came in absence of Otoguro and Niyazbekov – the only two wrestlers who have beaten him in the last one year in official international competitions.
In Nur Sultan, the luck of the draw favoured him as all his key rivals were in the other half. So it remains a mystery where Bajrang stands vis-à-vis wrestlers like Russia’s Gadzhimurad Rashidov, who won the gold on Friday, Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan or even Otoguro
Though Impresssive It Is A Step Down
Here’s the thing, though. Bajrang’s greatest strength is also turning out to be his biggest weakness, which has resulted in his undoing for a second consecutive World Championship. The bronze in Nur Sultan is a step down from the silver he won in the 2018 Worlds.
The colour of the medal, though, may not matter much given the world number 1’s priority was to secure a quota for next year’s Olympics and that he managed without having to work hard. And neither does it make Bajrang a lesser favourite for a medal at what will be his debut Games.
But in the larger scheme of things, keeping Tokyo in sight, the World Championships would be a sobering experience for the high-flying Indian.
Acutely aware of his supreme fitness, combined with the confidence of knowing he can force a turnaround within seconds, Bajrang likes taking his bouts to the very last minute; ready to punt on his stamina to get the better of the opponent’s skill.
Late revival

Though late still there is time This man will havbe two Olympics in his habd the Tokyo in 2020 and the one in 2024 The 2024 would asvence his age by four years and we have seen what happens to a wrestler when his age advances The classical are Sushil Kumar who is working very very hard to qualify for the top graded international events and his finding himself KNOCKED out in the very first round We also saw what happened to Yogeshwar Dutt in the last Olympics where he was grasping for breathe and breath in his first round of bout

2024 is far far awy The only time is 2010 With that in mind the coaches and ofcourse his Indian GURUDEV Yogeshwar Dutt will have to make him work very hard NOT to allow his defense to be parched, porched and porous for the opponent to KILL HIM It is just a BAD 30 seconds of the bout and you are OUT of the Olympics

A THIRD ATOM BOMB IN JAPAN COULD BE IN OFFING

If this error could be wiped off BELIEVE ME – HE IS THE GOLDEN BOY OF INDIAN WRESTLING The level of EXPERIENCE and the ARMS under the SLEEVES of the wrestlers from the fragmented part of Russia will be their GREATEST ammunition but if Bajrang can deny anybody to HOLD his legs BELIEVE ME there would be the THIRD ATOM BOMB that would EXPLODE at Tokyo after Nagasaki and Hiroshime for the JAPANESE to FEEL the BRUNT of the same

One FULL YEAR and this is the REGION and the ONLY aspect of his game that needs to be cut off as his weakness THE REST WOULD BE A HISTORY

Regards

Shyamal Bhattacharjee