Last Updated:
Suchika Tariyal assured India’s first-ever Asian Games MMA medal, beating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa to reach the semi-finals.
Suchika Tariyal is assured of a medal in MMA (Picture credit: Instagram @suchika_tariyal)
Veteran MMA star Suchika Tariyal on Sunday, September 20, became the first Indian to be assured of a medal at the Asian Games in the discipline, as she confirmed at least a bronze for herself by winning the quarterfinals.
Suchika beat Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarter-final to bag at least a bronze medal for India.
Suchika, a 36-year-old athlete from Budhana in Uttar Pradesh, started her sporting career as a judoka before transitioning to jiu-jitsu and later taking up MMA in 2017.
At 12, an incident of eve-teasing left Suchika with a simple thought: ‘I wanted to learn how to fight’.
“It is great to have secured one medal for the country. It is time for me to fight for a gold medal tomorrow,” Suchika said after her win.
“I had a dream from childhood that I would learn some kind of fighting, so I chose judo. That journey has brought me here. It is like perfecting the base to go to the next level and judo has helped me a lot with that,” Suchika added.
After the eve-teasing incident at the age of 12, she took up judo as a means of self-defence.
Suchika first trained at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and later at the Dada Dev Mandir Centre in Palam before honing her skills at SAI Bhopal.
Getting into competitive sport wasn’t easy, with her family having reservations about the challenges and travel involved for a girl competing away from home.
Suchika built a brilliant judo career, competing for India in more than 20 international events and becoming an eight-time national champion.
Suchika won gold at the 2019 Commonwealth Judo Championships and the South Asian Games, having claimed silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships.
Suchika represented India at several editions of the Asian Judo Championships and competed in the women’s 57kg category at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she missed out on a podium finish.
Quick Answers
Ask News18Suchika Tariyal guaranteed at least a bronze medal by defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the women’s Traditional MMA 60kg event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
Ask News18September 20, 2026, 13:34 IST
Read More
