Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Indian judokas Harsh Singh and Asmita Dey on their gold medal-winning performances at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow, describing it as a “historic day for Indian judo” and expressing confidence that their achievements would inspire greater interest in the sport across the country.
Harsh Singh clinched the men’s 60kg title after defeating Australia’s Joshua Katz by Waza-Ari (10-0) in the final, while Asmita Dey secured the women’s 48kg gold medal by overcoming Canada’s Heidi Quach with a Yuko (2-1) in a composed and determined performance.
In a post on X, PM Modi congratulated Harsh Singh, praising his dedication and outstanding performance.
“Historic Day for Indian Judo! Congrats to Harsh Singh for winning a Gold. His passion and dedication are clearly reflected in the exceptional performance. Best wishes for the upcoming endeavours,” the Prime Minister wrote.
Congratulating Asmita Dey in a separate post, the Prime Minister said her victory would contribute to the growing popularity of judo in India.
“A golden performance indeed! Proud of Asmita Dey for winning a Gold in the Judo Women’s 48KG Final! This performance will always be remembered and will contribute towards Judo becoming even more popular. Best wishes for her endeavours ahead,” he said.
Harsh’s victory earned India its second judo gold medal of the Games, following Asmita’s triumph earlier in the day.
In the men’s 60kg final, Australia’s Joshua Katz started aggressively in search of an early advantage, but Harsh defended resolutely and prevented his opponent from scoring. Both judokas exchanged attacks throughout the opening stages, with neither able to establish a decisive lead.
Katz came close to pinning Harsh at one stage, but the Indian escaped before launching an immediate counterattack. Despite the intense exchanges, the contest remained scoreless for much of the bout.
The decisive moment came with 3:19 remaining, when Harsh executed a perfectly timed throw before pinning Katz to earn a Waza-Ari, which proved sufficient to secure the gold medal.
Asmita’s final against Heidi Quach was equally hard-fought. Both judokas engaged in intense grappling exchanges, repeatedly forcing each other towards the edge of the mat. Quach opened the scoring midway through the contest with a throw.
Despite receiving a Shido penalty, Asmita responded with a swift throw to level the scores. Growing in confidence, she launched a series of attacking moves while successfully defending against Quach’s attempts to regain the lead.
With the scores level at the end of regulation time, the contest moved into Golden Score, where the first scoring action would determine the winner. Holding her nerve, Asmita executed a well-timed throw near the edge of the mat to score the decisive Yuko, sealing the gold medal in dramatic fashion.
The twin victories took India’s gold medal tally at the Games to five, with the country now having won 19 medals overall—five gold, nine silver and five bronze.
India’s gold medallists so far are Mirabai Chanu (women’s 48kg weightlifting), Sharmila Dhankar (women’s shot put F57), Dilip Gavit (men’s 100m T47), Asmita Dey (women’s 48kg judo) and Harsh Singh (men’s 60kg judo).
The country’s silver medallists are Rishikanta Singh, Muthupandi Raja, Gyaneshwari Yadav, Sarvesh Kushare, Valluri Ajaya Babu, Harjinder Kaur, Gulveer Singh, Murali Sreeshankar, Mohammed Basil and Lovepreet Singh, while bronze medals have been won by Jhandu Kumar, Bindyarani Devi, Shilpa K. Shyla and Seema Kaliramna.
(With ANI inputs)
