"I’m hopeful of making it to the Games" - Judoka Inunganbi Takhellambam shifts focus on qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024
Judoka Inunganbi Takhellambam has set her goals clear and wishes to make India proud at the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. The 25-year-old athlete from Lovely Professional University has been incredible, having won the All-India Inter-University Games as many as five times.
Inunganbi clinched a hat-trick of gold medals in the 70kg weight category in the 2023 edition of the Khelo India University Games, Ashtalakshmi.
After winning the gold medal, instead of dropping her guard, Inunganbi went to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to prepare harder for a berth in the Olympics.
Although still quite some distance away, the young judoka from Imphal East sounded confident of going through to Paris.
“This is my final appearance at the Khelo India University Games, and I’m happy to wrap up my university level competitions with another gold. I have two more golds from the previous editions of the Khelo India University Games, besides picking five golds at the All-India Inter-University Games, including winning the best judoka award once,” Inunganbi said in a press release.
“Now I’m looking to earn crucial Olympic ranking points. All the focus is on qualifying for Paris, and I’m hopeful of making it to the Games,” she added.
My father insisted me to take up the sport: Inunganbi Takhellambam
Inunganbi said that it was her father who insisted on her to take up the sport. Not belonging to a sports background, the youngster looks to scale new heights in her career.
“My father’s best friend was my first coach. In fact, it was at the insistence of my father that I took up the sport, and the support system in my family has been a positive influence in my life as I also happen to be the first sportsperson in my family,” Inunganbi added.
Inunganbi finished fifth in the Asian Junior Championships after which she won medals at the national and international levels. Back in 2020, she won the silver medal at the Khelo India Youth Games following which she advanced to the senior level.