CWG 2022: Judoka Tulika Maan stumbles in quest for gold

But her tenacious spirit and fighting skills shine throughIt 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