Yogeshwar Dutt, centre, speaking to media in Nagpur on Saturday

NAGPUR: London 2012 Olympics bronze medal winner Yogeshwar Dutt said on Saturday that Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are the strongest medal contenders for this year's Tokyo Olympics .

The 37-year-old Dutt was interacting with the media persons during ‘Meet the Press' programme organized by the Sports Journalists' Association of Nagpur (SJAN) at its office on Saturday.

Dutt, who was in the city to flag off state-level Surajya Daud, believed that India can win at least 2-3 medals in August, 2020.

"We have very bright chances in the Tokyo Olympics. Four Indian wrestlers have already been qualified and more are expected to qualify. Besides Bajrang and Vinesh, medal can also come from Ravi," he said.

Dutt, who was awarded Padma Shri in the 2013, said, "Indian wrestlers are doing well in the ongoing Asian Championship at New Delhi. The male wrestlers have won four medals where as female wrestlers clinched three gold, one silver and four bronze medals which augurs well for India in the future."

Vinesh Phogat bagged a bronze medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships and said that she is gearing up for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Phogat triumphed over Vietnam's Thi Ly Kieu in the 53-kg freestyle category.

Dutt said now-a-days the government is providing facilities to the sportspersons but there is always a scope for improvement. "Even today there is a need to do a lot of work at the grassroot level. We need good coaches and modern medical facilities. If we invest at the grassroot level, the players will give positive results," he said.

Dutt, who bagged gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, appreciated the ‘Khelo India' project of the Central Government. "The project is excellent. Government sends medal winners for advanced training at different places but I think that particular player should get the training at the same centre where he or she used to practice earlier".

On doping, Dutt was of the opinion that the government should strictly deal with the manufacturers and at the same time coaches and doctors should make the athletes aware about its ill effects.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee also appreciated the policies of the Maharashtra government towards sports. "Here in Maharashtra, the government gives the recruitment to gold medal winners directly on DCP post. The policy is good. At the same time I would like to mention that Maharashtra wrestlers give less attention to wrestling on mat. They are still stuck to traditional wrestling. If you want to win the Olympic medal then you must have to play on the mat," he said.

Deputy chairman of NMC sports committee Pramod Tabhanne, education committee chairman Dilip Dive, Pankaj Mahajan and others were also present at the press conference.

