Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju blessed the Indian Judo Team leaving for Budapest Grand Slam

The world Judo is returning live in action with Budapest Grand Slam as one of the first major International judo event which is going to be organized after the halt on the events by COVID-19. This event is going to be organized from 23rd to 25th October and 5 Judokas from India are going to take part in this event.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju wished the Indian contingent luck for the tournament and advice them to prepare well so that a good pool of players get emerge for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. The Indian team consists of Avtar Singh (2016 Olympian), Sushila Devi (India’s highest-ranked women Judoka), Vijay Yadav (India’s top-ranked male judoka), Jasleen Singh and Tulika Maan.

Kiren Rijiju said, “The team is leaving for Hungary today and I am hopeful that some of the athletes will qualify. Judo is a priority sport for us and we will enhance capacity both in terms of training facilities and coaches. The idea is to extend full support to the elite athletes while building up a talent pool of young athletes who can compete in the Olympics of 2024 and 2028. We will discuss a more exhaustive roadmap with the federation and plan ahead.”

Indian Judokas are determined to win

Indian Judokas are recently performing very well at the International competitions. One of the top medal prospects of Indian judo Jasleen Singh says, “I am feeling very positive after meeting the Sports Minister. He spoke to us and shared his knowledge which is really helpful. This will be the first tournament we will be played after the Covid lockdown.

“We used to play every month earlier, so it is really good to be playing again. From the entire Judo fraternity, would like to thank the Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India, and the Judo Federation of India for organizing this for us.”

Players from around 81 countries will be participating in the event and with such a strong Judo contingent under the guidance of one of the top Indian coach Jeevan Sharma, we hope they will glorify India at the Grand Slam.

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