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India have had a prolific campaign in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022, with six more medals, including three golds, in the wrestling event. Leading the line yet again was Bajrang Punia, who defended his title from the 2018 edition, and won his third straight CWG medal as well.
After another successful performance in the ongoing competition, the Indian wrestler credited his training sessions in America, having chosen not to train in his home country citing two reasons for the same in an exclusive interview for Sports Tak.
"There are two disadvantages to training in India. The first is that you can't find strong partners who challenge you. The second is that when you are in India, sometimes one has to go to a friend's wedding or to someone else's function. This distracts a lot and that is why training abroad is beneficial."
The legendary wrestler also dismissed the idea that his road to the gold was an easy one, "Nothing comes easy in life. You have to work hard for everything. I don’t come here thinking that my opponent is weak. In whatever contest I am in, I want to give my best performance," said Punia.
He is slowly working his way to becoming among the most decorated wrestlers in the country. Thanking his fans for their support throughout the event, Punia said, "I am very thankful to all the supporters. The love from the people who have come here, I am fortunate to be getting it. I hope the love and blessings from the supporters stays and I would be able to give better performances in the upcoming tournaments."
The 28-year-old also opened up on his new phase after injury, saying that he has been working hard to find his best form, "After the injury (knee injury at Tokyo Olympics and another one after it), I was searching for my best performance. I was working hard for it. I was not able to get things right in a couple of tournaments before. I have a feeling that I am getting back to my best and the hard work is paying off," said Punia.
Punia also congratulated fellow CWG gold medallist Sakshi Malik and said that he hopes the 29-year-old will take confidence from the win. "Sakshi was also trying to get back to her best for a long time. This is her first Commonwealth Games gold. I want to congratulate her."
"I hope Sakshi will be able to take the confidence from this win and do well in the upcoming tournaments and win medals for the country. A lot of people that Sakshi’s performance went down after the Rio Olympics bronze but this will give her a lot of motivation," said Punia.
