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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No stubble burning now, why air pollution crisis in Delhi: Mann takes dig at BJP
Chandigarh (PTI): Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the BJP saying its leaders used to "defame" Punjab farmers over stubble burning and blame them for Delhi's poor air quality and questioned why is there pollution crisis in national capital despite no farm fires now.
Mann said that as soon as paddy harvest takes place, BJP leaders blame Punjab and its farmers for Delhi's poor air quality.
He said they used to claim that stubble burning by Punjab farmers causes Delhi's pollution.
Mann said at present, the Air Quality Index in major Punjab cities is between 70 and 130.
"At present, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500 and no smoke is coming from Punjab. But the situation in Delhi is worse. At least now they should agree that there is no role of Punjab for Delhi's poor air quality," Mann said in a video message.
Mann's remarks came on a day Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the air pollution crisis in the national capital and acknowledged its impact on children's health.
Sirsa, however, asserted that it was the result of the policies pursued by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi.
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Last month, the BJP had trashed the Punjab CM's previous claim that stubble burning in the state has no role in the high levels of air pollution in Delhi as "ridiculous".
Dismissing Mann's claim, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had last month said it is certain that stubble burning is a "major" factor (for the air pollution in Delhi).
Meanwhile, Mann in his video message said, due to severe floods which Punjab witnessed this year, paddy harvesting got delayed, "despite this, many Delhi ministers had already started blaming Punjab".
"I want to praise Punjab farmers, NGOs and efforts of the Punjab government have also paid off in controlling stubble burning this time. The cases of stubble burning in Punjab have reduced by 70-80 per cent and this has been acknowledged by the Central Government and the Union Agriculture Minister," Mann said.
The CM further said that after paddy harvest even the wheat crop has been sown and now, there is no incident of stubble burning.
He said BJP leaders used to claim that Punjab's smoke from stubble travels to Delhi.
"Now, there is no stubble burning, but Delhi is facing very poor air quality. This proves that earlier too Punjab's smoke had no role for Delhi's poor air quality. Only accusations were made by the BJP to defame Punjab. At least now the Centre should praise the farmers of Punjab," he said.
"Meanwhile, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500, flights are being cancelled, and breathing has become difficult," said Mann.
He asked both the BJP government in Delhi and the BJP led Centre to address Delhi's air pollution, saying citizens cannot even venture out for a walk due to air pollution.
He also asked the BJP that Punjab should not be dragged into this political battle, instead, Punjab's farmers should be appreciated, and the Delhi and Central governments should focus on addressing Delhi's air pollution.
Mann further said that farmers of Punjab are 'anndatas' (food providers) and they meet the country's food needs, they should not be defamed.
