CWG 2022: Judoka Shushila wins silver in women's 48kg, Vijay gets bronze

Indian judoka L Shushila Devi battled injuries to sign off with a silver medal after losing the women's 48kg final against South Africa's Michaela Whitebooi at the Commonwealth Games here on Monday.

India won a second medal in judo in the form of a bronze when Varanasi's Vijay Kumar Yadav (men's 60kg) defeated Petros Christodoulides of Cyprus by 'Ippon' in just 58 seconds.

In a tight contest, Shushila, who had four stitches on her right toes, fought hard before losing the final via 'Waza-Ari' in 4.25 minutes.

It was the Indian's second silver medal at the showpiece. She had finished runners-up at the 2014 Glasgow Games as well.

"Before coming here I sustained an injury on my right toes in training and it needed three-four stitches," she said.

"But I was mentally strong and gave my everything that helped me reach the final. I also battled shoulder and knee pain. I'm sure I would have won the gold if I was not injured."

Asked about her journey from winning the silver at Glasgow 2014, she said: "I'm more experienced now. I hope I will turn it into gold next time."

"I'm not happy at all with the silver. After the selection I was pretty confident of a gold. If I was injury-free I would have won a gold.

"Next tournament is the Asian Games then we will think of the Olympics which is obviously the ultimate goal," she added.

Yadav executed 'Ippon' to clinical perfection to win the highest score and win in an emphatic fashion.

Ippon is the highest score in judo where the winner executes a full throw to immobilise his opponent.

But Yadav was not satisfied with his bronze.

"I'm not at all satisfied, I expected a gold. But that's okay. I had some drawbacks like I've to improve on my ground work which cost me a gold today," he said.

A sub-inspector with Manipur Police, Shushila had progressed to the final, beating Priscilla Morand of Mauritius. she had beaten Harriet Bonface of Malawi on way to her quarterfinals earlier in the day.

The 26-year-old Yadav, on the other hand, produced a superlative performance as he pounced on the mistake of his opponent and held him down for 10 seconds to end the contest in just 58 seconds.

Yadav, who has won the Commonwealth Championships in 2018 and 2019, had lost to Joshua Katz of Australia in the quarterfinal, but he produced a superb performance in 60kg repechage to advance to the bronze medal match with a win by 'Waza Ari' over Dylon Munro of Scotland.

A 'waza-ari' is awarded after a player throws his opponent with control and accuracy, but not to the extent of an ippon.

Jasleen Singh Saini will also fight for a bronze medal after losing the men's 66kg semifinal to Scotland's Finlay Allan.

Saini lost after the Scot performed an 'Ippon' in a match that lasted a little less than two and half minutes.

The 24-year-old Saini will compete in the bronze medal play-off against Australian Nathan Katz.

Suchika Tariyal has also reached the bronze medal round after defeating Donne Breytenbach of South Africa in the women's 57kg repechage.

India had won two silver and two bronze at the Glasgow 2014, their best ever show in judo.