CWG 2022: Judoka Tulika Maan stumbles in quest for gold | Commonwealth Games 2022 News – Times of India

But her tenacious spirit and fighting skills shine through
It was so close yet so far for judoka Tulika Maan. The 23-year-old from Tagore Gardens in Delhi, was leading and looked in control in the initial stages against the defending champion Sarah Adlington of Scotland in the 78+kg final.
But a quick twist of fate found her landing on her back that resulted in a pin which gave the ‘Ippon‘ and the gold medal to Adlington here on Wednesday.

For the uninitiated, ‘Ippon’ is the highest score that a fighter can achieve in a bout. It can be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a joint lock.
The ‘Ippon’ meant Tulika didn’t get a second chance in the bout, despite being in the lead for a good part of the 3 minutes, 29 seconds bout.
After the opening exchanges were neutral, Tulika weaved and swayed to keep Adlington at bay and then in a flash applied the ‘Waza‘ on her opponent that threw the Scot off balance. ‘Waza’ is a throwing technique which tries to unbalance an opponent and throw him/her on the mat.

Tulika’s lead came as a complete surprise for the more experienced Adlington. Thereafter, Tulika played a defensive game, relying more on counter-attacks. However, the strategy came to hurt the Indian judoka as she was penalized twice for being defensive in her approach. In the end, Adlington succeeded in securing the all-important pin-down.
Tulika had begun her 2022 CWG campaign with a straightforward win (by Ippon) over Mauritius’ Tracy Durhone in a match lasting 2 minutes, 53 seconds. In her semifinal against Sydnee Andrews of New Zealand, she performed even better, taking exactly a minute less to register victory by Ippon again.

Tulika, whose father was murdered when she was just two years old, and was raised by her mother who is an ASI in Delhi Police now, was inconsolable after the loss. At the backstage, tears flowed as India’s chief judo coach Jiwan Kumar Sharma tried to console her.
This is India’s third medal in judo at the 2022 CWG. Shushila Devi Likmabam and Vikas Yadav had won silver and bronze respectively on Monday.