Who is Tulika Maan? All you need to know about the Indian judoka who debuted at Paris Olympics 2024
Tulika Maan was India’s lone judo contender to have participated in the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Delhi-born judoka became the ninth Indian judoka to compete at the quadrennial event. Tulika competed in the +78kg women’s judo category.
The 25-year-old registered 36th place in the Olympic Games ranking at 1345 points. By doing so, she pipped her compatriot Avtar Singh, who, with 1244 points, stood 43rd in the men’s 100kg category. The results helped her qualify for the Games in Paris.
Born in Delhi, Tulika Maan is the daughter of Amrita Singh, a widowed Delhi Police Assistant Sub-inspector. Maan took up judo as a four-year-old, and the hobby soon turned into a passion for her. The young athlete started taking the sport seriously once she graduated from the 10th standard in school.
After initially training under her coach, Sangeeta Dutta, Tulika moved to the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Bhopal. She was taken under the wings of coach Yashpal Solanki. Yashpal was instrumental in shaping her skill-set and also guided Tulika in losing around 32kgs of weight in a year.
Tulika Maan’s astonishing exit from the Paris Olympics 2024
Unfortunately for Tulika Maan, she could not fulfill her potential in Paris. The judoka made a rough exit from the Summer Games after losing her Round-of-32 encounter in under 30 seconds on August 2. Cuba's Idalys Ortiz beat Maan in the women's +78kg division at the Champ-de-Mars Arena Mat 1.
It took four-time Olympic medalist Idalys only 28 seconds to win the encounter 10-0. The Cuban judoka was awarded an immediate win, termed an Ippon after she pinned her opponent on the back with complete control, strength, and speed.
Though Tulika Maan had a disappointing campaign in Paris, she has shown enough pedigree in her career, which indicates a stronger comeback. Tulika is a multiple gold medalist in the Senior Nationals.
Her brightest achievement came at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where she won the silver. The budding star then went on to win the silver at the 2023 Kuwait City Asian Open.