Guwahati, Aug 28: Linthoi Chanambam, a 16-year-old judoka from Manipur, has won India’s first gold medal in the history of the Judo World Championships in Sarajevo on Friday.
Before this, no Indians judoka had won a single medal at any age-group of the World Championships across genders.
Coming up with a run of four back-to-back ippons to enter the final of the World Cadet Championships – for judokas of age 18 or less – Linthoi faced Brazil’s Bianca Reis in the 57-kg category final on Friday evening, already having made history.
Linthoi took the early lead in the final with a waza-ari. She got a shido with seconds left on the clock but held out to win the match 1-0 and become the U18 world champion. This was India’s first ever medal at this tournament, coming in the seventh edition of the Cadet Worlds, since its first edition in 2009.
No Indian has won a medal at Junior Worlds (U-21) or in the Senior World Championships in Judo before this either, let alone become the world champion.
