Aichi-Nagoya: India created history at the Asian Games on Monday as Suchika Tariyal became the country’s first athlete to win a medal in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) at the continental sporting event.
Tariyal secured the bronze medal despite losing 0-2 to Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in her bout on the second day of the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The medal marks a significant milestone for Indian MMA, with Tariyal becoming the first Indian athlete to stand on the Asian Games podium in the discipline.
Tariyal, who hails from Kiloi village in Haryana’s Rohtak district, is a 2024 Jiu-Jitsu World Champion. She had previously represented India in Judo at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and in Kurash at the 2022 Asian Games.
Making her Asian Games debut in MMA, Tariyal turned her first appearance in the discipline into a historic medal-winning campaign.
India’s other MMA entrant, Varun Sanyal, was unable to begin his campaign after being ruled out on medical grounds.
Shobha Karandlaje congratulates Tariyal
Union minister Shobha Karandlaje congratulated Tariyal on her historic achievement.
In a post on X, Karandlaje described India’s first-ever MMA medal at the Asian Games as a proud moment and extended her best wishes to the athlete.
She expressed hope that Tariyal would continue to achieve greater success on the international stage and add more medals to India’s tally.
