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Judoka Jasleen Saini’s late dash to CWG proves in vain
Loses the 66kg bronze medal playoff to Australia’s Nathan Katz, having needed a Delhi high court order to make it to Birmingham after a suspension over fracas during a camp in Spain
Vijay Yadav made short work of Cypriot Petros Christodoulides to win bronze in the men’s 60kg category, pinning his opponent to win by an 'Ippon' (throw) in the CWG’s judo competition on Monday.
However, the drama belonged to a possible medal that got away.
Three days before his competition, 66kg judoka Jasleen Singh Saini was still frantically looking for a flight to Birmingham. The other members of the judo team had left a day earlier but Saini could not go because he had been axed from the team for ‘indiscipline’. It related to an alleged brawl that took place where the Indian judokas were staying during an exposure trip to Spain in June. He petitioned the Delhi high court, which cleared his name and directed his inclusion for CWG on July 27.
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India’s judo federation has been de-recognised and is run by a court-appointed administrator. He suspended Saini and two other judokas from participation in tournaments and ordered an enquiry into the incident that took place in Madrid on June 25. A police complaint had been filed in the Spanish capital against one of the Indian judokas.
Saini’s' name was not in that police complaint, and after several requests to allow him to compete in the CWG were not accepted, he petitioned the court with time running out. Once the court cleared his name, it was a scramble to somehow reach Birmingham before Monday’s competition.
All that scramble and tension had an effect on the 24-year-old Saini, who lost his bronze medal playoff with his Australian opponent Nathan Katz producing an “Ippon” in the final seconds after neither had scored a point.
Saini had cruised through his first two bouts, pinning down Maxence Cugola of Vanuatu and Nathon Burns of Northern Ireland before losing the semi-finals to Allan Finlay.
The Jalandhar judoka felt helpless due to the situation.
“I was so much stressed. My entire career was on the line. I was not involved in the reported incident in Madrid, it was my roommate against whom the police complaint was made. I just got dragged in,” Saini had said before leaving for Birmingham.
“I requested the federation but when there was no time left, I had to seek refuge in the court. I have no history of any indiscipline. There was no complaint against me and even my roommate got a clean chit in Madrid.”
“For eight years I was preparing for the Games and at the last minute this happened. I was shattered. The team left before me but I did not give up hope because I was not wrong,” Saini said.
A medal would have made Saini forget all the upheaval.
