Delhi's Mohit Sherawat battled through a dislocated shoulder to win the gold medal in judo at the National Games on Saturday. He beat Harshpreet Singh of Punjab in the men's 81kg category.
Mohit needed to protect his dislocated right shoulder but instead of defending to avoid further injury, he went for broke. As a result, he won both his semifinal and final bouts within the first few seconds at the Mahatma Mandir Complex.
Mohit, who had won the Senior Nationals title in Lucknow earlier this year, had dislocated his shoulder midway through the quarterfinal match against Sarabjit Singh of Punjab.
"I was leading by a point then. So I decided to play it safe because if I had called for medical attention, I would have had to concede. But he made a mistake and I got a throw.
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"In the semifinal and final, I decided to just go for a throw if I get the right grip and it worked wonderfully for me," said Mohit Sherawat.
The Delhi judoka said his next target is to make it to the Asian Games next year.
"Indian judokas have started doing well on the international circuit. We even won medals in the Commonwealth Games this year. For me, my immediate target is to play in the Asian Games next year," said Mohit.
In other bouts, Lal Humhimi bagged Mizoram's first gold medal of the Games when she defeated the formidable Pincky Balhara of Delhi in the 52kg final.
Lalhumhimi had registered a tough win over Simran of Haryana in the semifinals and waited for an opportunity to find the right grip for a throw against Balhara.
"I and Pincky have faced each other many times. The last time I had lost to her. So, this time I was a lot more determined," she said.
Madhya Pradesh's Yamini Mourya defeated Haryana's Savitri in the women's 57kg final, while Vishal Ruhil of Haryana clinched the men's 73kg gold by defeating statemate Jatin.
(Inputs from PTI)
