Tulika Mann, the Delhi-based Commonwealth Games silver medallist, will head to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as India’s sole Judo competitor after receiving a Continental Quota in the women’s 78+ kg class. With a 36th place in Olympic Games ranking at 1345 points, the 25-year-old pipped Avtar Singh, who was 43rd in the men’s 100kg class with 1244 points.
Tulika, daughter of Amrita Singh, a widowed Delhi Police Assistant Sub-Inspector, capped her run by logging 320 points with a pre-quarterfinal appearance at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi, UAE, last week. She also had a fifth-place finish at the Asian Championships in Hong Kong last month when she picked up 252 points, the same as in the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou, China.
After having learnt the ropes in judo from coach Sangeeta Dutta, she moved to the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Bhopal, where Yashpal Solanki got her to lose 32kgs in a year and sharped her skills as a Judoka. In the Paris Olympic Games, Tulika will be the lowest-ranked among the 21 contestants but her determination to excel will not be in question.
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As many as 10 Asian Continental Quota places each, for men and women, were on offer across weight categories to those who were not ranked among the International Judo Federation’s World Ranking List at the end of the qualifying period. Each National Olympic Committee (IOA included) was entitled to just one out of the 20 such berths available.
India has sent a total of 16 Judokas to the Olympic Games since Barcelona 1992. Tulika will be aware that L Brojeshori Devi’s joint-ninth-place finish in Sydney 2000 is the best achievement by any of her predecessors. As a girl who spent a lot of time growing up in the Rajouri Garden Police Station, West Delhi, Tulika has a chance to leave her own imprint on Paris 2024. The quadrennial extravaganza begins on July 26, with an opening ceremony planned along the Seine River. That, of course, is subject to change, as Emmanuel Macron, the French President, had said two months ago that security threats would be factored in as well. There is every possibility the opening ceremony could then be shifted to the iconic Stade de France.
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