Commonwealth Judo CHampionship- Pune’s Blind judokas powers India on top of medal tally
September 28, 2019, Pune
India’s blind judokas struck the big-time in terms of medal tally at the Commonwealth Judo Championship ongoing at Walsall, Birmingham. India won 19 medals in the visually impaired category.
Part of the medal-winning contingent for the nation were Pune’s blind judokas — Sonali Wajage, Renuka Salve and Ajay Birajadar. For Wajage and Salve it was the girls’ first international tournament and each one a medal, silver and bronze, respectively. Birajdar the oldest of three blind judokas also won a bronze medal.
Rachana Dhopeshwar, who trained the trio at Solaris Club, said, “I am still a greedy coach and wants to change the colour of the medal. I would be on the moon if all three medals had been yellow in colour. They will definitely learn from this exposure, especially the girls, as they are still very young and will prosper from here onwards.”
Speaking in particular about Wajage, the silver medalist, Dhopeshwar said, “Wajage will learn from here. She was beaten by her own move and will need to focus on defence.”
