Earlier this week, Bajrang Punia announced that he would be taking a year off from social media until the end of the Tokyo Olympics. While the Games are still just under 150 days away, Bajrang’s decision to go offline came the night before he left for Rome for the first qualifying tournament of the year that begins Thursday.
He showed the importance of this tournament in the larger scheme of things, although on its own, it might not be of much relevance. For each fighter who has traveled to Rome, the importance of the Matteo Pellicone Tournament varies: for Bajrang, it will be the first official competition in more than a year; For Vinesh Phogat, it will be an opportunity to build on his remarkable victory in Kiev last weekend. And for the young Anshu Malik, it will be an opportunity to increase her growing reputation.
The Tokyo bound quartet
Of the four wrestlers who have qualified for the Olympics, two, Ravi Kumar and Deepak Punia, have withdrawn from the competition. This would have been the first major test for the two fighters in the year of the postponed Games. But Ravi said he injured his knee during the national camp in Sonepat last month, while Deepak, who recovered from COVID-19 earlier this year, had a fever. That puts the spotlight on two of India’s biggest medal hopes at the Olympics: Vinesh and Bajrang.
Vinesh marked his return to competition after a year-long gap with an astonishing performance at the Kiev International last weekend. Despite being away from the mat for so long, the 26-year-old showed little sign of rust in the final of the 53kg weight class when she pinned 2017 world champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in remarkable fashion.
In the absence of female wrestling power fighters in Japan and China, Vinesh will be challenged by Ecuadorian Luisa Melendres and Cuban Lianna Herrera. The new national champion in the 53kg category, 23-year-old Nandini Salokhe, is also set to make her international debut at this tournament.
Meanwhile, Bajrang will compete for the first time since the Asian Championship in February last year. Even though he was out of competition, Bajrang spent a couple of months in the United States to train, where he also competed – and won – an eight-man invitational tournament.
Rome, where Bajrang is the defending champion, would present an entirely different challenge. His nemesis Takuto Otoguro from Japan will not be present at the event, but the world No. 2 will still face stiff competition from Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan and Benham Ehsanpoor, a 61kg champion fighter from Iran who recently increased his weight class to 65. kg. Bajrang, however, will be one of the favorites to retain his title.
A chance for Sakshi, Anshu
Sakshi Malik, who has struggled to match the levels that helped her win the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics, will have another chance to fix her form before the Asian Olympic qualifiers next month. The 28-year-old has been overtaken by the young Sonam Malik as India’s best bet in the 62kg category.
But Sonam, who suffered a strange injury while training with Sakshi at the national camp, withdrew from the tournament. The focus of attention in this category, from the Indian point of view, will be solely on Sakshi. And if he manages to make it to the podium here, it will act as a great confidence booster ahead of the selection trials for the Asian Olympic qualifiers, which are likely to take place later this month.
Rome will also be an opportunity for Anshu Malik (57kg category) to build up the excitement around him, which coincidentally started after he won a silver medal at this tournament last year. Since then, the 19-year-old has won medals at the Asian Championships (bronze), the individual World Cup in Belgrade last December (silver) and was crowned national champion in January.
In the absence of the highest ranked fighter in this category, Japanese Risako Kawai, Anshu will face Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria and Giullia de Oliveira of Brazil, both ranked in the top five.
The 74 kg enigma
Few weight categories are as deep as the men’s 74kg, although it is debatable whether Indian wrestlers in this class can match foreign standards. In Rome, the 74 kg category will feature 13 fighters who have six world titles, one Olympic gold and one bronze, and 20 world medals in total between them.
This is also a crowded weight class in India, with about six fighters in the fray for an Olympic berth. India had entered three fighters for this competition: Jitender, Narsingh Yadav and national champion Sandeep Singh, but Jitender withdrew due to injury. For Narsingh, this will be the first major international competition since returning from his doping ban, while Sandeep will make his international debut.
But in a weight class that boasts some of the best fighters in the world, a possible fight between American Jordan Burroughs and Italian Frank Chamizo could be the obstacle. Burroughs’ offensive style has often been notably countered by Chamizo’s strong defense, and Roma could see another chapter unfold in what is considered one of the biggest rivalries of the last decade.
.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.