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Main focus is on Olympics, says Asian C'ships bronze medallist Deepak Punia

By ANI | Updated: February 24, 2020 00:00 IST

After settling for the bronze medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships, Indian wrestler Deepak Punia has said that his main focus is now on the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

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After settling for the bronze medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships, Indian wrestler Deepak Punia has said that his main focus is now on the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

"My main focus is on the Olympics. I am preparing hard for the event. From the last 10-12 days, I missed my training due to a minor injury. Semifinal was a close bout and I'm disappointed that I missed the gold medal. We have to change many things according to the respective opponents," Punia told reporters after his match at KD Jadhav Wrestling Hall here on Sunday.

Punia thrashed his opponent Issa Abdulsalam Abdulwahhab Al Obaidi 10-0 in the bronze medal match in the 86kg category. He earlier lost the semifinal bout against Japan's Shutaro Yamada 4-1.

The silver medallist grappler Jitender Kumar said that he will learn from his mistakes and prepare hard for the Olympic qualification.

"I will rectify my mistakes and will prepare hard for the Olympic Qualification. I have given my 100 per cent in the tournament," Jitender Kumar said.

Bronze medallist Rahul Aware in the 61kg category said he was a little nervous in the semifinal bout. Aware outclassed Iran's Majid Almas Dastan 5-2 to clinch bronze after losing the semifinal against Zholdas Beko 5-3.

"I was a little nervous in the semifinal bout and that went against me. I made one mistake and that barred me from clinching gold. My first bout was with the Pakist wrestler which added extra pressure on me in home conditions," Aware said.

"It was not up to the mark after my performance in the World Championships. I got little time to prepare for the tournament," he added.

When asked about changing the weight category as 61Kg category is not an Olympic category he said, "Whatever decision federation will take I will respect that. I will prepare for the World Championships 2020."

( With inputs from ANI )

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