Shushila Devi Likmabam and Navjot Chana assured themselves of at least a silver medal by reaching the final of the women’s 48kg and men’s 60kg categories in the judo events of the 20th Commonwealth Games at the SECC hall here on Thursday.
India can add to its tally if Kalpana Thoudam wins her bronze medal match in the women’s 52kg section.
On a highThe Indians were on a high right through the opening day of the three-day competition, as the judokas performed beyond expectations and forced their way into the medal rounds.
There was also some disappointment as two judokas failed to make an impact and bowed out.
In the women’s 48kg, which featured nine competitors, the 19-year-old Shushila, ranked 158th in the world, was drawn in Pool B.
Once she began her campaign with a win over Marie Effa Medza (Cameroon), there was no stopping the Guwahati-born judoka.
Australia’s Amy Meyer was the next to face Shushila’s fury, the quarterfinal contest proving a morale-booster for the Indian.
She then outwitted another Aussie, Chloe Rayner, in the last-four and set up a gold medal match with Kimberley Renicks of Scotland.
Renicks, ranked 39th in the world, had a smooth passage to the final, dismissing the challenge of Marcella Monobang (Cameroon) and Obasi Okey (Barbados) in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively. The Scot had a bye in the first round.
Too goodNavjot, too, was ruthless with his opponents — Tom Pappas (Australia), Brandon Dodge (Wales) and Daniel Grange (South Africa) — as he moved into the 60kg summit clash with the best performance of his career.
The 31-year-old Police officer from Hoshiarpur (Punjab), who has been on the international circuit since 2007, will meet Ashley McKenzie (England) in the final.
Kalpana was impressive in the first two rounds before losing her way in the third. She got back into medal contention through the repechage.
In the women’s 57kg event, Shivani lost in the first round while Manjeet Nandal exited at the quarterfinal stage.
