Bajrang's leg defence is not weak, it's just his style of play, says new personal coach Sujeet Maan

Bajrang Punia's leg defence is a major shortcoming in his game, Sujeet Maan, the new personal coach of the star grappler says the wrestler looks vulnerable only because of his attacking style and all he needs to do is to convert the moves into points. Bajrang's leg defence has been a major talking point in the last three years, especially in the run up to the Tokyo Games, where he won a bronze medal. Bajrang's struggle against Japanese nemesis Takuto Otoguro only accentuated the issue.

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Wrestler Bajrang Punia, who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, has been forced to plead with authorities to provide him with a full-time 'physio' so that he can recover from knee injuries ahead of the senior Asian Championship, Birmingham CWG and Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled later this year.

His coach Shako Bentinidis also worked on the same but Bajrang, 28, never made the desired progress, something which irked the national federation and eventually the Georgian was removed from his support staff. However, Maan, who started working with Bajrang from January this year, says Bajrang's leg defence is not as weak as it is thought of. "A lot of people opine that his leg defence is weak but that's not the case. It's a style. In cricket, the aggressive batters go for their shots and in the process they run the risk of losing their wicket. In Bajrang's case when he plays attacking game, he appears vulnerable in his leg defence," Maan told PTI in an interview.

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