CWG: Tulika Maan wins silver in women's 78kg judo event
Birmingham, Aug 3: Indian judoka Tulika Maan gave her all but came up short against Scotland's Sarah Adlington in the final to settle for a silver medal in the women's 78kg category in the Commonwealth Games here on Wednesday.
Tulika, who won two fights earlier in the day to make it to the final, led for majority of the bout before Adlington pulled off a decisive move, an Ippon, to win gold.
Adlington had Tulika on the mat with a forceful throw and the Indian landed on her back, ending the contest with 30 seconds remaining.
A silver was still a creditable performance from the 23-year-old from Delhi who gave India its third judo medal in the Birmingham Games.
The spectators too was largely in favour of the Scottish judoka and they went berserk after Adlington employed an Ippon.
Tulika, who lost her father when she was a two-year-old and is a single child of a widowed mother, is a former Commonwealth judo champion.
She was inconsolable after the bout and was not able to speak to the media though she tried, a standard protocol after every bout.
After that she fell on the floor with tears rolling down her eyes. Clearly, it was the disappointment of missing out on the gold.
She had beaten Tracy Durhone of Mauritius in her opening bout before winning against Sydnee Andrews of New Zealand in the semifinals.
Tulika initially trailed in the semifinal match against Andrews but performed an 'Ippon' to humble the New Zealander.
The only other Indian, Deepak Deswal, went down to Fiji's Tevita Takawaya in the men's 100kg Repechage event.
L Shushila Devi and Vijay Kumar had claimed a silver and bronze in women's 48kg and men's 60kg respectively on Monday.
It must be noted that in the wake of the de-recognition of the Judo Federation of India on April 22, an expert committee was constituted by the Sports Authority of India to oversee the trials and the selection process for the CWG and also suggest necessary changes.
The committee included Olympian Judokas Cawas Billimoria, Sandeep Byala and Sunith Thakur as well as Judo masters Arun Dwivedi and Yogesh K Dhadve.
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Four arrested for pre-Christmas vandalism in Assam school
Guwahati (PTI): Four people associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal were arrested for vandalising decorative items used for Christmas celebrations at a school and damaging festive articles in shops in Assam’s Nalbari district, police said.
The arrests were made on Thursday, a senior officer said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hailed the police personnel for their prompt action and asserted that his government was committed to "maintaining peace, communal harmony, and ensuring the safety of all institutions and citizens across the state".
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The incident took place on Wednesday when the accused allegedly entered St Mary’s School in Panigaon village under the Belsor police station limits and burnt and damaged decorative items meant for Christmas celebrations.
"Miscreants who vandalised the school have been arrested. They entered the premises unlawfully," the officer said.
He added that the accused vandalised outer decorations, lights, plant pots, and other articles, as well as set some items on fire, resulting in loss of property.
"In connection with the vandalism at St. Mary’s English School, Panigaon, under Belsor Police Station, Nalbari district, the miscreants involved have been arrested. Assam Police acted promptly, and further action will be taken strictly as per law. We are fully committed to maintaining peace, communal harmony, and ensuring the safety of all institutions and citizens across the state," the CM said on X.
"A case has been registered at Belsor police station. Further investigation is going on. We are trying to identify some more people who were involved," the officer said.
The arrested persons are VHP Nalbari district secretary Bhaskar Deka, parishad's district vice-president Manash Jyoti Patgiri and assistant secretary Biju Dutta, along with Bajrang Dal's district convenor Nayan Talukdar, he added.
They had raised 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans and warned the school authorities not to organise Christmas celebrations on the school premises on Thursday, the officer said.
The accused also went to various shops selling Christmas goods in Nalbari town and set fire to some items near the Jain Mandir.
They also entered several shopping malls and business establishments selling Christmas items and burnt the goods, he added.
