Shusheela Devi: How a Manipur Farmer's Daughter Became India's Greatest Judoka
At this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, judoka Shusheela Devi Lumbambam won the silver medal after defeating South Africa’s Michaela Whiteboy in the women’s judo 48kg final. This is Sushila’s second CWG silver after her first in Glasgow in 2014.
The path to silver was not an easy journey for the 27-year-old from Manipur. On Monday, she played with stitches on her knee.
There was a road to silver for this 27-year-old from Manipur, nine such couples. s monde, she pleid vita statikhas s har kane.
“What Shusheela did was beyond expectations. We were counting on her for a medal, but to beat a top seed and win a medal is unbelievable,” India’s
Judo runs in Shosheela’s family – her uncle, Dineet Singh, was an international judo player and her brother Shelakshi Singh was a national gold medalist in the sport.Born in Hangang, East Imphal in February 1995, Shashila took up the sport herself when she was just five years old. “I used to accompany my elder brother everywhere. My uncle was also an international judo player, so I got basic training at home,” Sushila told India Today.
She began training when she was seven years old at the Judo Academy in Khamn Limpak, which was 30 minutes from her home. Every day, the siblings would wake up at 5.30am and leave home at 6am, with Shashila riding behind her brother.
At that time, playing internationally was not even on his radar, he told Sportsstar. “I just loved sports. In Patiala there were top athletes from different disciplines and I used to watch how they trained and practiced. I used to watch the likes of Mary Kom and the top judokas. I used to watch their practice sessions.
His talent stood out regardless. “I remember she couldn’t speak a word of Hindi,” Sharma told The Indian Express. We saw how good and talented she was during the trials. But we didn’t know that she would one day reach the Olympics.
