Commonwealth Games silver medalist Tulika Maan sidelined for two months with knee injury

Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medalist Tulika Maan has been sidelined after sustaining a knee injury. The 24-year-old Judo athlete is expected to be ruled out for two months.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, she said:

“I have been told by the medical expert to stay off the mat until December as the knee injury could further go from bad to worse. I am doing extensive rehab to get back to recovering from a knee injury and start normal practice.”

The Delhi-born athlete said that her injury first popped up during the 2022 CWG (held between July 28 and August 8). It possibly complicated the situation as she had to compete at the Asian Judo Championships immediately afterward. Maan lost the second tournament in the first round.

She continued to ignore her injury and instead played at the recently concluded Gujarat National Games, where she earned yet another medal. She eventually opted to skip the Khelo India Women’s Judo National League at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex (held between October 20-23).

The player is now hoping to return to action in December.

“If all goes according to plan, I should be back to normal routine practice in December,” she said over the phone. “My main goal is to perform well at the postponed Asian Games scheduled for the latter part of 2023.”

Challenging task awaits Maan at the Asian Games

The Asian Games present a tough challenge for Indian judokas. The quadrennial tournament, held every four years, has historically proven to be a tough quest for Indian judo athletes.

India has failed to win a judo medal in the competition since 1994. Poonam Chopra was the last woman to win bronze in the lightweight category back at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.

New weight category for Maan?

Qualifications for the 2024 Paris Olympics started in June this year. Maan said she does not have enough points to make it to the showpiece event and hence wants to shift to a new weight category.

“I plan to switch from plus 78kg to below 78kg. I have to maintain my body weight in coming months. In the below 78kg both the opponents have equal weight, while in the plus 78kg the weight of the opponent varies. Sometimes there is a big difference in the weight of the rivals,” she explained.

Maan explained that her knee injury resulted in her exiting the World Judo Championships in the first round, earlier this month.

“I had pain in my knee. Therefore I couldn’t perform up to my potential,” she concluded.