Nagoya: India’s Suchika Tariyal takes a victory lap with the tricolour after securing a bronze medal in the women’s traditional 60kg mixed martial arts event at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. (PTI Photo) Nagoya: Suchika Tariyal did not lose her fight in the arena. She lost it on the weighing scale.In a dramatic finish to the traditional 60kg MMA semifinal, the 36-year-old Indian was tied with Singapore’s Hui Hoon Toon after the bout and the mandatory one-minute extra time. Two judges voted for the Singaporean, while one sided with Suchika.Unhappy with the verdict, Suchika and her team felt she had landed more punches and strikes. The Mixed Martial Arts Sports Federation of India president Nikhil Kunder then lodged a protest with the Asian federation, sending the contest into arbitration.“We had to pay a fee of $1,000 for the arbitration process. We get to choose three random judges, who go into a closed room and analyse the last round. They give their scores and, based on that, a decision is made. Even then, the match ended in a draw,” Kunder told TOI.The Singapore federation was then given two options: go for counter-arbitration, allowing them to choose three judges from the panel, or have the fighters weighed, with the lighter athlete at the morning weigh-in declared the winner.“They opted for the latter,” Kunder said.That left Suchika at a disadvantage. She was found to be 700gm heavier than her Singaporean opponent at the morning weigh-in and, under the sport’s Asian body rules, was eliminated from the final.Kunder said the Indian team was also unable to verify the weight themselves because the athletes were staying on the cruise ship.“The players are staying on the cruise ship, so we officials don’t have access to them. We didn’t get to see the weight and had to take what was told to us at face value,” he said.The decision left Suchika heartbroken.“She just wouldn’t stop crying. It was very difficult to console her. But we had to accept the situation,” Kunder said.Later, Suchika said, “I gave my 100%, and I don’t agree with the decision that went in her favour.”The medal was India’s first in the sport, which made its debut at this edition of the Games.
