Judo Can Be a Strong Medal Winner for Indian Sport, If Indian Judo Gets the Timing Right

Indian sport has seen many false dawns, but few are as striking as Indian judo. Once a surprise medal contributor, the sport faded into near irrelevance for three decades.

It was 1986 , the Asian games were happening in Seoul. Indian sports fans would be watching the event with great anticipation. India finished with 37 medals and 5^th on the medal table. This edition of the games for us Indian fans would be forever associated with a legendary performance by the payyoli express the amazing PT Usha who won 4 of the 5 golds India won – all with Asian record  times.

But this games had an interesting sidelight, 1986 seoul also marked the debut of a new sport in the Asian games. Judo was an Asian games sport for the first time. And India had done very well, The Indian judo team headlined by the Parsi Giant judoka Cawas Billimoria had won 4 medals, Judo was the third best sport in terms of medals for India ahead of more established sports like shooting or wrestling. It seemed that in the Indian Pantheon of sports there was a startling new entrant.

Unfortunately, that promise was never fulfilled. For any sport to thrive, three pillars are essential:

1. A professional, athlete-first federation
2. A breakout national icon
3. Sustained government and institutional support

Indian judo failed on all three counts.

Sadly india got a lack luster judo association riven with politics and corruption under Jagdish tytler and then Mukesh kumar. No pathbreaking star emerged and govt support waned,  the association got embroiled in the judo scam culminating in   the Judo association being derecognized. Judo started languishing , both interest and quality waned.

India would win only one more medal in judo at the Asian games,  Poonam chopra would win a bronze in 1994. Then for the last 30 years judo was just a big washout. The performance at the Olympics would be no better. India did qualify a single judoka through the liberal continental quota in 2012, 2020 and then 2024. But all three judokas lasted for just seconds losing through Ippon in the first round itself.

The lack of support for the Judokas showed in some of the rising stars of Judo giving up on the sport, the story of tababi devi comes to mind. This young judoka was the best judoka of her generation,a cadet Asian champion ,  at the youth Olympics of 2018 she shocked the established nations and won a silver in the 44kg Judo event. Then at the age of just 19 she walked away from the sport without a word. She was just tired of the struggle without reward and support

Despite institutional failure, judo survived at the grassroots. Coaches such as Ibomcha Singh and Momota Yumnam in Manipur, Robin Basumatary in Assam, Surender Kumar in Delhi, and Surjeet Singh in Punjab preserved coaching quality and competitive culture.

What has changed now is the ecosystem. Judo is recognized within SAI National Centres of Excellence, especially Imphal, and is supported by JSW Inspire Institute of Sport, the Reliance Foundation, the Army Sports Institute, and increased court- and IOA-led governance reform. For the first time in decades, funding, exposure, and planning are aligned  .

The Numbers Don’t Lie: A Ranking Revolution

For 25 years, India’s senior judokas hovered between world ranks 50–100. Only Tulika Maan briefly broke into the 30s.

Today, Shraddha Chorpade (52 kg) stands world No. 24 at senior level at just 20 years old, placing her firmly within Olympic qualification trajectory a first for India in the modern era  .

More astonishing is the junior cohort, the strongest India has ever produced:

• Himanshi Tokas (63 kg) – Junior World No. 1, Asian junior champion
• Darjada Shahin (57 kg) – Junior World No. 4, Asian junior gold
• Leishangthem Chanu (52 kg) – World No. 7 (Junior)
• Linthoi Chanambam (63 kg) – Cadet World Champion 2022, Junior WC bronze 2025
• Ishroop Narang (78 kg) – World No. 13 (Junior)
• Kanwarpreet Kaur (78+ kg) – World No. 16 (Junior)

Never before has India had seven junior women ranked inside the world top 25 simultaneously. This is not coincidence it is evidence of systemic potential.

Why Judo Makes Olympic Sense

Olympic medal tables are shaped disproportionately by a handful of sports. Athletics and swimming dominate, but require massive infrastructure. But next in importance is a group of 7 sports cycling ( 22), Wrestling ( 18  ), Gymnastics (19), canoeing (16), shooting ( 15), Rowing (15) and boxing (14), a country who is really good at one of these seven can end up in the top 20 on the medal chart .  Expensive Equipment and courses are required in cycling , gymnastics and canoeing. Boxing , Shooting and Wrestling we have focused on and should get good rewards .

Judo sits in the second-tier medal cluster 14 Olympic medal events with one crucial advantage: cost efficiency.

• A basic judogi costs under ₹700
• A competition mat is 11×11 metres
• No expensive equipment or bespoke venues

Compared to rowing, cycling, or canoeing which require crore-scale infrastructure judo offers one of the highest medal ROIs in Indian sport. With existing juniors already world-class, the “tinder” is ready  .

A realistic, evidence-backed target would be:

• 3–4 merit-based qualifiers for LA 2028
• Asian Games medal(s) in 2026
• Commonwealth Games gold potential in 2026

But success hinges on decisive action now:

• Hiring a world-class foreign high-performance coach for 3+ years
• Expanding TOPS support to at least five judokas (currently only Linthoi is covered)
• Providing sustained international exposure during the critical junior-to-senior transition
• Enforcing a formal maternity and parental policy so what happened to Tababi Devi is never repeated

Indian judo has failed before not due to lack of talent, but lack of vision. Today, for the first time since 1986, the numbers, infrastructure and talent all point in the same direction. If India chooses to act with urgency and intelligence, judo could quietly become one of its most reliable Olympic medal doors. This need not be another false dawn.

With the right spark, it could finally be the bright tomorrow Indian judo has waited nearly four decades to see.