3 min learnApr 29, 2026 11:09 PM IST
When Inunganbi Takhellambam locked in a chokehold towards Mongolia’s Lkhavadulam Sarantsetseg within the bronze medal match of the Asian Judo Championships earlier this month, she was fascinated about the match, not the historical past. The historical past got here after.
The 27-year-old from Manipur ended India’s 13-year await a continental judo medal. The final had are available in 2013, when Angom Anita Chanu gained bronze on the identical match. Chanu is now a nationwide group coach — and she or he travels in every single place with a blazer she has by no means had motive to put on. In judo, coaches put on tracksuits by means of the elimination rounds. The formal blazer comes out just for medal matches.
“Pehle match se blazer leke jaa rahe the however pehenane ka mauka nahi mila tha (Because the first time I travelled with Anita mam, she had at all times carried a blazer however by no means obtained an opportunity to put on it),” Inunganbi stated. “This time she requested me that ought to I put on it. I I instructed her — mam, you’ll put on it this time.”
“I had no concept it was Anita mam who gained the final medal. I believed she should have gained it method earlier than 2013. When my coaches instructed me I had grow to be the primary Indian after her to win the medal, it doubled my happiness,” she stated. “I’ve been a part of the senior Indian group since 2021 however by no means used to transcend the primary spherical. It is a huge victory for me and it’ll give me increasingly more self-belief.”
The street to that second was neither straight nor straightforward. At these championships she misplaced her quarter-final to Uzbekistan’s Shirinjon Yuldoshova, then waited — as Yuldoshova reached the ultimate, the repechage route opened. “Once I entered the bronze medal match, I instructed myself it is a very huge match and an enormous alternative,” she stated.
She comes from Manipur, a state that has produced Kunjarani Devi and Mary Kom, and like many younger athletes there she tried all the things earlier than one thing caught.
“I attempted a number of sports activities watching the likes of Kunjarani Devi and Mary Kom. I additionally performed soccer. However judo caught my eye,” she stated. “I had no concept about chokeholds or every other strikes. I noticed cartwheeling and selected it.”
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She educated beneath Deven Moirangthem on the Nationwide Sports activities Academy in Manipur earlier than shifting away from dwelling to pursue the game severely. Her knee gave method in 2018 — surgical procedure, a 12 months of restoration. It gave method once more in 2024, identical knee. “My physique was like a pencil,” she stated of that first restoration. The second time she got here again sooner.
A continental medal now in her pocket, Inunganbi is trying on the Commonwealth Video games and Asian Video games. However she is measured about what it should take. “Aside from me, two different women certified for the bronze medal matches right here. I consider extra international publicity and coaching camps will enhance our performances on the worldwide degree,” she stated.
The blazer, a minimum of, has lastly been worn.
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