Minutes after judoka L Shushila Devi settled for a silver in the women’s 48kg category, Vijay Kumar Yadav signed off with a bronze medal in men’s 60kg. 

Yadav was facing Petros Christodoulides of Cyprus in the third-place tie. The 26-year-old produced a superlative performance to finish the match in 58 seconds. He pounced at his opponent and pinned him down for 10 seconds. The move is called Ippon. 

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Ippon is a move in which a contestant throws his opponent to the mat with considerable force and speed so that the opponent lands on his back. An ippon is also awarded when a contestant immobilizes his opponent with a grappling hold-down for 20 seconds, or when an opponent gives up.

Yadav had won the Commonwealth Championships in 2018 and 2019. This year he lost to Australia’s Joshua Katz. He came back via repechage to advance to the bronze medal match with a win by ‘Waza Ari’ over Dylon Munro of Scotland.

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A ‘waza-ari’ is awarded after a player throws his opponent with control and accuracy, but not to the extent of an ippon.

“Vijay Kumar Yadav has won a Bronze medal in Judo at the CWG and made the nation proud. His success augurs well for the future of sports in India. May he continue to scale new heights of success in the times to come,” India PM Narendra Modi tweeted. 

Shushila Devi, on the other hand, was playing with four stitches on her right toes She fought hard before losing the final via ‘Waza-Ari’ in 4.25 minutes.

Jasleen Singh Saini will also fight for a bronze medal after losing the men’s 66kg semifinal to Scotland’s Finlay Allan.

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Saini, who sailed into the semifinals earlier in the day, lost after the Scot performed an ‘Ippon’ in a match that lasted a little less than two and half minutes.

The 24-year-old Saini, however, has a chance to earn a podium finish as he will compete in the bronze medal play-off against Australian Nathan Katz later tonight.

India had won two silver and two bronze at the Glasgow 2014, their best ever show in judo.