Wrestler Bajrang Punia complains over physio’s CWG non-inclusion
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist claims his repeated requests for a dedicated physio has not been cleared by officials.
After woman boxer Lovlina Borgohain, another Tokyo Olympics medallist, wrestler Bajrang Punia, has complained that his personal physio Anand Dubey has not been included in the contingent for the Commonwealth Games despite several request to the officials.
Punia, currently training in Michigan, US has Dubey with him. He said his request was forwarded by the Wrestling Federation of India but the Indian Olympic Association is yet to include him in the list.
“The federation has arranged a UK visa for my physio and he is with me here in the US but I don’t know what will happen after that. He will travel with me to Birmingham but what is the point of having him if he is not given accreditation. He will not have access to venues,” Punia said from his Michigan base.
“I have also spoken to IOA officials but so far nothing has happened,” he said. Punia recovered from a knee injury only recently and needs a physio familiar with his condition.
The 12-member wrestling team (6 men, 6 women) is accompanied by six coaches and one medical personnel. Punia’s personal coach Sujeet Mann, who is part of the national coaching set up, is part of the contingent.
Punia won bronze in Tokyo despite a knee injury. He has been asking for a dedicated physio for a long time. In March, after the national selection trials, he had slammed officials for not providing him a physio, complaining that it has hampered his rehabilitation. “I am doing my own rehab because I do not have a regular physio,” Punia had said.
“I made my request for a physio after the Olympics. I injured my right knee a month before the Olympics and even before I could fully recover, I injured my left knee in January because all the pressure was coming on one leg,” he said.
He pulled out of the ranking series in Istanbul due to a strain. “I have not been able to train continuously because of the injuries. Had there been a physio, I would have been fit by now and played in the ranking series,” he said.
Punia won silver at the 2014 CWG and gold in 2018 Gold Coast. This year, he won bronze at the Asian Championships on his comback after a long injury layoff before winning another bronze at a meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
