Agencies
Glasgow
Doping cast a shadow over India’s Commonwealth Games campaign on Friday as judoka Tulika Maan was provisionally suspended after three whereabouts failures, forcing the previous edition’s silver medallist to withdraw even before the start of her competition.
The setback came a day after fellow judoka Arun Kumar was withdrawn from the Games after testing positive for a banned steroid, reducing India’s judo contingent to 12 members. Maan, considered a strong medal prospect in the +78kg category, now faces the possibility of a two-year ban.
India, however, is assured of at least one medal after Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain received a bye into the women’s middleweight (75kg) semifinals.
In swimming, two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj advanced to the men’s 50m backstroke semifinals after clocking 25.52 seconds to finish joint 14th in the heats and secure one of the 16 qualifying spots.
In para-swimming, R V V B K Budigina and Imam Ali reached the men’s 100m freestyle S13 final after all eight competitors progressed from the heats. Budigina was third in 57.10 seconds, while Ali qualified with a timing of 1:05.32.
Powerlifter Ashok Malik finished fourth in the men’s lightweight event with 143.8 points, while compatriot Paramjeet Kumar placed seventh with 135.6 points.
With several medal-rich sports absent from the scaled-down Games programme, India’s campaign is expected to gather momentum in the coming days.
