Tokyo Olympics: Know Your Olympian - Deepak Punia, Wrestling

22-year-old Deepak Punia is the youngster to look out for this Olympics as this wrestler is full of surprises. Hailing from Chhara, Jhajjar district in Haryana, Deepak decided to take up wrestling at a young age as he followed the footsteps of his grandfather and father. He started wrestling in local akharas to earn some extra money then was taken to Chhartarsal Stadium for proper training and the rest is history.

Deepak first made his mark in 2016 when the youngster became the Sub-Junior World Champion. Going forward and excelling in the 86 KG category, Deepak picked up silver and bronze in the Asian Championships and Matteo Pellicone tournaments. Deepak then went on to win silver in the World Championships in 2019 which helped the wrestler secure a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Age – 22

Sports/Discipline – Wrestling

Working Ranking – 1 (86 KG)

First Olympic Games – Tokyo 2020

Major Achievements

World Championships

— Silver – World Championships, Nur-sultan, 2019 (86 KG)

Asian Junior Championships

— Gold – Asian Junior Championships, New Delhi, 2018 (86 KG)

World Junior Wrestling Championships

— Gold – World Junior Wrestling Championships, Tallinn, 2019 (86 KG)

— Silver - World Junior Wrestling Championships, Trnava, 2018 (86 KG)

Asian Championships

— Bronze - Asian Championships, New Delhi, 2020 (86 KG)

— Bronze - Asian Championships, Xi’an, 2019 (86 KG)

Tokyo Olympics Qualification

The United World Wrestling (UWW) had announced the seeding for the Tokyo Olympics in different weight categories and in the 86 KG division, Deepak Punia was seeded second behind Iran’s Hassan Yazdani. The 86 KG freestyle wrestler won silver in the World Championships to secure a seat in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making it his first ever appearance in the grandest stage in the world.

Recent Performances

Deepak Punia recently pulled out from the Poland Open in June in order to fully recover from his injury which has been persistent for quite a while. In order not to aggravate his left-elbow injury, Punia decided to pull out and not take the risk of being injured once again, just a month away from the Tokyo Olympics.

The Wrestling Federation of India agreed with Punia’s decision especially with the Olympics around the corner. However, despite pulling out from the Poland Open, the UWW named Punia as the ‘Junior Freestyle Wrestler of the Year’ which boosted his rank to become the number one ranked wrestler in 86 KG division.

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