Commonwealth Games 2014: Judokas Sushila Likmabam, Navjot Chana Assured of Medal After Reaching Finals
In the men's 60 kg event, Navjot Chana defeated Daniel Le Grange of South Africa in just 1 minute and 51 seconds to storm into the medal round. Chana got a knock-out with an 'Ippon'.
The Commonwealth Games started on a rousing note for the Indian contingent as their judokas assured them of at least two medals on the opening day with Navjot Chana and Shushila Likmabam reaching the finals of their respective categories.
In the men's 60 kg event, Chana defeated Daniel Le Grange of South Africa in just 1 minute and 51 seconds to storm into the medal round. Chana got a knock-out with an 'Ippon'.
Chana had a tougher fight in the quarter-finals when he defeated Brandon Dodge of Wales in 3 minutes and 49 seconds while it took him five minutes to win his first round bout against Australian Tom Pappas.
In the women's section, Manipuri judoka Shushila Likmabam reached the finals in the 48 kg category defeating Aussie rival Chloe Rayner in two minutes and 23 seconds. Sushila got a couple of Wazaris which is equivalent to an 'Ippon' which finished the bout.
She had earlier defeated Amy Meyer of Australia in 2 minutes and 38 seconds in the quarter-finals while she got better of Mani Medza Effe of Cameroon in a minute and 41 seconds in the pre-quarterfinals.
Two more Indians -- Kalpana Thoudam (women's 52kg) and Manjeet Nandal (men's 66kg) are also in contention for a bronze medal. Both lost in the quarterfinals but won their respective repechage round bouts to keep themselves in the reckoning for a bronze medal.