L Shushila Devi won a silver medal in the judo women's 48kg after losing to Michaela Whitebooi of South Africa by waza-ari in the final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Monday.
If suceeded, the 27-year-old would have become the first Indian to win a gold medal for the country in judo at the Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, India's Vijay Kumar Yadav won bronze in the men's 60kg judo as he subdued his opponent Petros Christodoulides of Cyprus via ippon in less than a minute. However, it was a dissapointing end for Indian judokas Jasleen Singh Saini and Suchika Tariyal in the other bronze medal playoffs.
Jasleen lost to Nathan Katz of Australia by ippon in the men's 66kg while Suchika suffered defeat by waza-ari to Christianne Legentil of Mauritius in the women's 57kg.
A 'waza-ari' is awarded after a player throws the opponent with control and accuracy, but not to the extent of an ippon.
Ippon is a move in which a contestant throws his opponent to the mat with considerable force and speed so that the opponent lands on his back. An ippon is also awarded when a contestant immobilizes his opponent with a grappling hold-down for 20 seconds, or when an opponent gives up.
The first Indian judoka to book a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Shushila was handed a shido, a minor penalty, in the first 40 seconds of the match. However, Whitebooi also conceded a shido 68 seconds later making it an evenly poised contest.
With the clock ticking, both the competitors once again conceded a shido just before normal time ended. With the game moving to golden score, Shushila finally lost the plot as Whitebooi launched a fine attack to win the summit clash via 'Waza Ari'.
Earlier, Shushila Devi had scored an ippon in the last few seconds of her semi-final clash against Priscilla Morand of Mauritius to assure India of a medal in judo at the Commonwealth Games.
Prior to her bout with Priscilla, Shushila had overcome Harriet Bonface of Malawi by an ippon to reach the semi-finals.
Shushila already has a Commonwealth medal under her belt, having won a silver medal in the women's 48 kg in the 2014 edition of the tournament in Glasgow.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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