Wrestler Bajrang Punia leaves social media, to focus on Tokyo Olympics

New Delhi: Ace Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia on Monday announced that he will stop using all social media handles till the Tokyo Olympics as he wishes to completely focus on his preparations.

He further said he will return to social media after the conclusion of the quadrennial event. He asked his followers to keep showering their love to him.

“Mein apne sabhi social media handles ko aaj se band kar raha hu. Ab Olympic ke baad aap sabhi se mulaakaat hogi … ummeed karta hu aap apna pyaar banaye rakhenge ….. jai Hind (I am closing all my social media handles from today. Will meet you guys again after the Olympics..hoping you will keep showering me with your love.. jai Hind),” Bajrang tweeted.

https://twitter.com/BajrangPunia/status/1366271584156147715

Bajrang Punia, who competes in the 65-kg freestyle category, earned a quota for the Tokyo Olympics in September 2019 after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships. His last competitive international event was in February 2020 at the Asian Senior Championships in New Delhi.

“I plan my comeback at the Rome ranking series event in March and will follow that up by participating in the Asian Championships in Kazakhstan,” he had said.

Earlier, Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, while speaking to select media, had said that he is highly optimistic about India’s chances in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, adding that the contingent will make the country proud.

“Tokyo Olympics got postponed by one year, but the dates are the same. Because of Covid, the precautionary measures and protocols need to be regulated, every country is preparing for the Olympics. Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, there is no doubt about it. Olympics will go ahead and India will do well too,” Rijiju had said.

When asked about when the Tokyo-bound Olympics will be vaccinated, Rijiju had said: “COVID-19 vaccine is something that the Health Ministry needs to decide. It has already been decided that the vaccination drive needs to begin with Covid warriors. The doctors, nurses, medical team have to take care of everybody so they need to be safe first. The vaccination process has started for them and after that, the players and all will come. Covid warriors are the priority.

“The athletes will be vaccinated before the Olympics. The Sports Ministry has decided that once COVID-19 warriors are vaccinated, then our priority is to vaccinate our athletes who are Tokyo Olympics-bound. Overall priority needs to be decided by the Health Ministry. Our Sports Ministry has already stated that we have a priority of vaccinating our athletes,” he had added