Mental block broken and internal demons defeated, Bajrang Punia ready to shed defensive approach

Drenched in sweat, Bajrang gets ready for a 'plyometric' workout and slogs for another 45 minutes. An athlete uses speed and force of different movements to build muscle power through plyometric workouts. His new-found energy and enthusiasm come from encouraging results from a few tests he underwent -- Technobody Assessment, Functional Movement Screening, Body Composition Analysis and Vo2max.

There is nothing wrong with his body, these tests affirm and help in getting rid of a "mental block" that had straight-jacketed the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist on the mat. It was this mental block that had tied him to an ultra-defensive approach ever since he suffered a knee injury ahead of the Tokyo Games last year. He appeared in the CWG trials in New Delhi and just about managed to beat his compatriots.

A few days later, he competed at Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in Almaty and lost a bout - against Uzbekistan's Abbos Rakhmonov - that he had in his grasp. All because of his defensive tactics, that had triggered speculations that Bajrang is past his prime. Even Bajrang himself began to doubt his worth.

"I told my coach that I will attack more and play my old style but the body did not support me in Almaty. There is no lack of effort, I was actually putting in extra effort but was not getting performance and results," Bajrang told PTI in an interview. "At times I thought I would never be able to repeat those stupendous performances.

I felt my body has slowed down. Something was amiss in my body and it was consistently playing in my mind," he shared his doubts. But he is quick to remind me that he has overcome that self-doubting phase.