It came as a surprise for the 25-year-old Judoka Tulika Maan to know that she has qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 after an injury in 2022. She believed Avtar Singh (100kg) and Vijay Yadav (60kg) had better chances but now as she will become the ninth Indian Judoka to compete at the Games, Tulika has set her eyes on the prize and is working for it.
She has battled injuries along the way. She had picked up an injury in the 2022 Asian Championships. She won the National Games Gold that year despite battling injuries. But all that could not stop Maan from winning the Gold there.
She is thinking of a medal at the upcoming Paris Games and believes that the preparations are backing her to have a shot at it. In an exclusive interview with India TV, Tulika opened up about her journey to the Games, the preparation and how she came to know about this sport. Check out the conversation here.
Q. How has been your journey ahead of the Paris Games? How are your preparations?
So preparations are going well. we are going to Valencia in Spain for 3 weeks. So after the training, we will leave for Paris directly from there. So on 26th, I'll reach Paris and there we will have a special camp for the players in Paris and after that we will have a match and my fight will be on the 2nd of August.
Q. What are your Goals and expectations for the Paris Olympics?
Now we are thinking of a medal because the training is going well and we have our first fight with Japan who are a powerhouse in Judo so it will be difficult. So we are planning how we can tackle them and reach the next round for the quarter finals where everyone will be equal. So we are focusing on the first 2 fights where I'll have to be more calm and focused. So in this way, we are preparing for the fights.
Q. How was your Commonwealth experience? How crucial will be your Commonwealth success experience for the Olympics?
CWG was a key for me. Everything started from there because it was a time when everyone started acknowledging me and it was unexpected for me as it was a turning point in my career. The mistakes which I did during the CWG I'm focusing on not repeating the same mistakes in the Olympics. Not only about the CWG but during my national games also I made some mistakes, So now I'll have to ensure that I'm well prepared for the highest level of competition.
Q. You picked an injury in 2022. How well do you feel about the upcoming Games? Any concerns?
I had a knee injury already which was reopened during my last match in Abu Dhabi. After that, we stayed in India so that I could recover from the injury but now I'm fit and good to go.
Q. What is your perspective on the importance of both physical and mental well-being for judo (especially at the time of injury)
At the time of injury, my coach had only one motto wherein he said that if there's an injury on the lower body, you train the upper body and when you have an injury on the upper body, you focus on training the lower body because if we miss or skip the training for a day, it means we get behind on our training schedule for a week. So if we can't train with our legs, we will lift weights with our hands and do upper-body exercises and if we can't train our upper body, we will do running or lower-body exercises.
During injury, anxiety is a thing that we face a lot because I am a Judo player and when I'm not able to play the sport that I live by, then it makes me anxious. So that time, I have to be calm and I have to do proper rehabilitation before performing again in order to avoid any further injuries which will lead to me going back and forth on the mat due to improper recovery.
Q. How did you gain interest in this sport? Who is your idol?
I started practising Judo when I was in the 4th Standard. I was alone at home when my mother worked, which led me to ask her which activities I could do to spend my time and that is how I joined the Judo classes. My idol is not a Judoka but it's Lionel Messi. What makes him my idol is that he's always calm and sits alone in a corner to focus and calm himself before a match.
Q. Most challenging part of your journey to the Paris Olympics
I felt like I wouldn't be able to qualify for the Olympics because during my match in Uzbekistan, my roommate left the windows open and the temperature was extremely cold outside which led to me getting a fever and cold and it was very challenging for me to contest the match with my bad health.
Q. Most memorable moment of your judo career so far
My most memorable moment was when my mother cried when she found out that I got selected for the Olympics.
