India wrestling star Deepak Punia has made a target for himself as he makes winning a gold medal his top priority. The Brilliant wrestler is a soft-spoken, friendly, and accessible person who picks his words carefully, and outside the ring, the 5 ft 6-inch wrestler’s body language builds around discretion.
But whenever he stands on the wrestling mat, you see a different kind of person, the way he attacks shows aggressiveness as he storms into this opponent without mercy.
Taking a look at the previous years, Deepak’s stock has been increasing, and so far, in 2019, the wrestler has been outstanding. The 20-year old became the first Indian wrestler in 18 years to win gold at the Junior World Wrestling Championships, which was held in Tallinn, Estonia.
In addition to that, he won silver on his debut at the Senior World Wrestling Championships [ in Nur-Sultan Kazakhstan]. Now, the United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport’s governing body, crowned him the Junior Freestyle Wrestler of the year.
Deepak Punia remains the only India Wrestler to make it to the final of a weight category in Nur-Sultan. However, an injury deterred him from defeating Hassan Yazdani of Iran in the final. Still, Deepak made it a debut to remember by claiming a quota spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 86kg category.
When Deepak was questioned as to what his targets were for the forthcoming Olympics, he said, “my confidence level has been on the rise with every tournament I partook in. And getting a medal at the Olympics is an achievable target for me”.
The wrestler who hails from Chhara Village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district has been undergoing intense training at the famous Chhatrasal Akhada located in the city.
Written by: Olumide Akinnifesi
