Bright future beckons judo in Tamil Nadu

The Judo Federation of India had dubbed the event — ‘The biggest official Judo event’. While Punjab and Service Sport Control Board (SSCB) took the top two spots respectively in the men’s group, All-India Police Sports Control Board and Haryana were the winner and runners-up in the women’s group. However, for the judokas of Tamil Nadu the tournament was as forgetful as the popularity of the sport in the state. Only one player, S Surya, could reach the business end of the tournament but a medal hope soon vanished when he went down in the bronze-medal play-off match. Tamil Nadu coach T Parameshwaran, however, expressed optimism at the way the sport has been progressing in the state. “I am happy to see one judoka progress to the last-four. 

Earlier, the TN players were easy opponents for teams. We have had the dubious distinction of losing a match in 30 seconds and one minute (each judo match’s duration is five minutes for men and four for women). But now, we have been giving stiff competition to other teams, which is a giant leap from where the sport was,” he lamented. 

Parameshwaran attributed the sports stature to the lack of facilities. “We never have sports hostels in districts where the game is a little popular than in the city. We just have one coach. Once the basic facilities improve, we can give better results. The present federation has a vision and I hope we move in the right direction,” he hoped. Tamil Nadu Judo Association president Vijay Muralimohan said plans to create awareness about the sport are in the pipeline. “We are planning to scout for players and organise tournaments and bring them under one roof so that moving forward from there becomes easy,” he said.