Asian Para Games: Kokila Stuns World Champion to Reach Judo Final, Assures India a Silver

Indian para judoka Kokila beat reigning world champion Liu Yi of China by golden score in the women’s J2 -52kg semifinal at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday. The win puts her in the gold medal match and assures India of at least a silver. Kokila scored one waza-ari and one yuko in the bout, while Liu Yi managed a yuko.

KOKILA’S ROAD TO THE FINAL

Kokila Kaushiklate had a bye in the round of 16 and another in the quarterfinal, so the semifinal against the world champion was her first real test of the day. Golden score is sudden-death extra time: when the regulation bout ends level, the first fighter to score wins. Kokila took it on the narrowest of margins against the best opponent in the category.

KAPIL PARMAR HEADS TO THE BRONZE MATCH

Paris Paralympics bronze medallist Kapil Parmar lost to Indonesia’s Junaedi by ippon in the men’s J1 -70kg semifinal and will now fight for bronze. An ippon is the full-point score that ends a bout at once. Parmar had reached the last four by beating Mongolia’s Bat-erdene Baatarsuren by ippon in 4 minutes 53 seconds. Junaedi went on to the final, where he faces China’s Zhu Shiwen.

WHO IS KOKILA?

Kokila Kaushiklate was born on October 17, 2003, and is a visually challenged para judoka. She turned 23 two days before the semifinal. She won a medal in the women’s 48kg J2 event at the last Asian Para Games, in Hangzhou, and that result earned her a quota place at the Paralympics.

WHAT J1 AND J2 MEAN

The J1 and J2 classes are for visually impaired judokas, with J1 for athletes who are totally blind or have very little sight and J2 for those with more remaining vision. The two categories are usually fought at the same weight divisions. Kapil Parmar, who competes in J1, won bronze at the Paris Paralympics in 2024, which was India’s first Paralympic medal in judo. That bronze came in the -60kg class, so he has moved up to -70kg here.

THE GAMES

About 3,000 athletes from 45 National Paralympic Committees are competing across 18 sports, with 492 gold medal events. The Games have come to the birthplace of judo for the first time, and judo has been part of the Asian Para Games since the inaugural edition in Guangzhou in 2010. India has seven judokas in Japan, two men and five women.

SHEETAL DEVI’S WORLD-RECORD SCORE

Earlier on Monday, archer Sheetal Devi equalled the world record in the women’s compound ranking round, scoring 704 out of 720 at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square. Turkey’s Oznur Cure holds the record jointly. Sheetal also beat her own Asian record of 698, set in Bangkok in March, by six points. She set a new Games record, too, surpassing her 680 from Hangzhou in 2023.

Payal Nag scored 675 to finish joint fifth, and the two topped the para compound women’s doubles ranking round with a combined 1,379.

With inputs from ANI