Three temptations Bajrang had to overcome on road to glory

Bajrang Punia has established himself as the undisputed superstar of Indian wrestling but the road to glory was fraught with temptations which he had to overcome with strong will.

The Commonwealth Games and Asian Games gold medallist and the only Indian grappler to win two World Championship medals, Bajrang kept himself away from a cell phone for seven long years, has never gone for sight seeing during competitions abroad and doesn't even know how a cinema hall looks like.

These are small temptations but Bajrang thinks they can easily distract, so it was necessary to keep a strong check on himself. And the result of that is for everyone to see.

The 24-year-old Bajrang has savoured an extremely successful 2018 season, winning five medals including three at Major championships.

"There are a lot of things I wanted to do but controlled myself. I always wanted to have a cell phone. But When I started playing international events in 2010, Yogi Bhai (his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt) advised against it, saying it was a distraction. Even now when he is around, I hide my phone," Bajrang told PTI in a free-wheeling chat.

"He knows that now I have a mobile phone but I never use it in front of him. If he is with me for 10 hours, I will not touch my phone for 10 hours," Bajrang said on the sidelines of Haryana Gaurav Cup, organised by Yogeshwar Dutt Academy here.

"In 2017, Yogi bhai got busy with his academy and I was mostly training at Bahalgarh Camp, so to keep in touch with him, I had to keep phone. Now I can watch wrestling videos on my phone but I use it only in absence of Yogi bhai."
"Now I have understood all this discipline is paramount for an athlete. It has become a habit now. I eat on time, practice on time and sleep on time."
Further he revealed that, "I have never been to a cinema hall. Whatever movies I have watched, I have watched on TV."
"There was no time to watch the videos of his bouts, so I could not strategise. Also, he was tired and was taking frequent breaks. If he had fought without breaks, I would have bridged the points gap and done better."
"I am more determined now. First, I will make up for this opportunity lost at the 2019 Worlds and then prepare hard for Tokyo Olympics. I have not started training as yet, there is an injury."