CHENNAI: Amidst ongoing administrative turmoil, judoka Inunganbi Takhellambam has quietly broken the nation’s 13-year-old drought for an Asian medal. In the women’s 70 kg category at the Asian Judo Championships on April 17, the 27-year-old from Manipur beat Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam Sarantsetseg in the bronze medal match.
“I never thought that it has been 13 years since India last won a medal!,” she said in an interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India.
While her victory marked a landmark moment in an otherwise tough period for the sport in India, the medal was a watershed moment in her career. After battling two knee injuries and missing out on selection, the success was an emotional one. “Before the bronze medal match, I thought, if not today, then never. I knew I had to win the medal. I still kept thinking about how I won the medal. All the players and coaches came to meet me and informed me of the record. Then, the tears came rolling down my eyes,” she recounted.
Her journey in finding the sport, learning the trade and becoming one of the household names in the sport is interesting. Born in Tiger Camp in Imphal East district to a health department worker and a housewife, Takhellambam said that football was the main sport in her village. “At that time, I wanted to play a different sport. Additionally, my father did not allow me to play football. When I said I wanted to try something, he introduced me to his best friend Deven Moirangthem and a boxing coach at SAI NERC at Imphal in an individual capacity. I learnt a little bit of boxing and wrestling there,” she explained.
While she trained under Moirangthem there, she was fascinated by her senior judokas. “I saw judo for the first time. I liked it a lot. Some seniors used to wear black belts, some used to wear white belts. Before getting into sport, I used to cartwheel a lot. That helped me like judo more,” she explained.
Then she trained with Khaidem Gunamani, former Olympian and head coach at National Sports Academy in Imphal. “I trained there for nine years. It took me 4 years to get selected. I kept stumbling at the selection trials,” she recalled.
She entered the Asian circuit in 2021 but first round exits in successive years pegged her back. Additionally, a double blow to her knee on separate occasions made life difficult for the judoka. “My first knee injury was an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear in 2018. I was very new at that time. I didn't know anything about the gym. My body was like a pencil. It took me a year to heal. After a year of rehab, I was able to qualify for the next Asian championships but it was difficult. I suffered a meniscus tear on the same knee in 2024. I did rehab for six months. I didn't do judo. I did gym and physio,” she elucidated.
Then, another heartbreak followed, when she lost in the final of the senior nationals the following year. “I was eliminated from the team. I was not selected for the Asian Championships earlier that year,” she added.
The same year, she was selected for the Asian Open in Amman, Jordan and clinched gold.
As she prepares for both Commonwealth and Asian Games later this year, Takhellambam revealed her training routine. “We have two training sessions in the gym – a conditioning session and one strength session. After that, we go to the mat for three judo sessions, each lasting an hour. After that, we recover and rest. From five in the evening, we have an evening session,” she said.