Judoka Tulika Maan secures Paris Olympics berth

In a major boost to the Indian contingent ahead of the Paris Olympics slated to start in July this year, judoka Tulika Maan has secured a berth for herself. She earned her spot via the continental quota.

For the uninitiated, the continental quota is given to the judoka with the most points across both genders on the continental ranking list. This news is bound to brighten all Indian sports aficionados' day.

Maan will compete in the +78 kg category at the Olympics and hope to pick up a medal for herself. If she manages to do so, it will be a testament to her hard work and make the entire country proud of her efforts.

Tulika Maan won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham

What one should know about Maan is that this will be her debut at the Olympics, and that she won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England.

Earlier this year, Maan beat Asian champion Olympic medal favourite Kim Hayun in the quarter-finals of the Asian Judo Championships. That must have given her a massive boost in confidence and spiked her levels of conviction.

The 25-year-old, who was born in Delhi, had earlier reached the Round of 16 of the World Championships in 2022 and 2024. She was ranked seventh in the Asian Championships in 2017 and 2019.

While the biggest highlight of her resume is the silver medal she won in Birmingham in 2022, Maan has also won gold at the 2019 South Asian Games held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

At the junior level, the Delhi girl has been quite prolific, having won bronze medals at the Asian Junior Championships in 2017 and 2018 held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Beirut, Lebanon respectively.

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