Two Indian Judokas in race for Rio Qualification

NEW DELHI: Indian judokas Avtar Singh and Thoudam Kalpana Devi have a good chance of qualifying for the Rio Olympics after their impressive performances in the recently-concluded Asian Championship in Tashkent.

According to a media release issued by the Judo Federation of India, in the revised world rankings to be published at the end of May, both Avtar and Kalpana will climb up the ladder and be within qualification ambit.

Avtar performed well in the below 90kg category, reaching the third round but lost the bronze medal bout. He finished 5th and is expected to get anything between 80 to 90 points, which will improve his world rankings.

The final list of the Olympic Games qualified players will be released in the last week of May by the International Judo Federation.

Kalpana (52Kg)and Jasleen Singh reached second round in the continental championship. Kalpana also has a good chance of qualifying for the upcoming Rio Games.

Both Avtar and Kalpana are going to Baku (Azerbaijan) to participate in the IJF Grand Slam scheduled to be held from May 4 to 8 and in IJF Grand Prix-2016 to be held from May 12-16 in Almaty (Kazakhstan).

These events are the last qualifying events for Asian judokas for the Games.

In the Commonwealth Judo Championships in South Africa, Garima Choudhary won a gold medal in below 63Kg category and Rajwinder Kaur won a silver in the below 78Kg category.