Bangalore: Ace wrestler Bajrang Punia said Monday he was working on his ‘shortcomings’, especially in leg defence while focusing on doing well at the Tokyo Olympics later this year.
“I used to give away points due to (poor) leg defence. I will play two to three tournaments to prepare for the Olympics. I am working on both attack and defence. Olympics-2020 is our focus, so I am working on all the areas,” Punia told reporters here.
Punia, who lost to Japan’s Takuto Otoguro in the final of the Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi recently spoke on the sidelines of a promotional event.
The 26-year old wrestler said he could not perform 100 per cent in the final of the Asian meet. He said he was not keeping well on the day the final took place. However, he refused to give that as an excuse for the loss in the finals.
“I know I have certain shortcomings, I have started working on those and I can already feel some improvement,” Punia said.
“There is quite an improvement in the leg defence. He (Otoguro) countered all my attacks in the final. Now I have to focus on Olympic to avoid the mistakes I had committed earlier,” Punia added.
The wrestler said he has already cleared a major milestone – the Olympics qualifier round and now his focus was on the Tokyo Games.
Speaking about the 65 kg category in which he competes, Punia said there were at least 12 to 13 wrestlers, all of whom are capable of winning on a given day.
PTI