Linthoi Chanambam wins India's first-ever medal at Junior Judo World C'ships

Linthoi Chanambam created history, winning India's first-ever medal at the Judo Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru on Tuesday.

Chanambam, 19, clinched the bronze medal in women's -63kg with a win over Netherland's Joni Geilen in the bronze medal match.

Earlier, Chanambam had lost in her final Group D match to Japan's So Morichika.

The judoka from Manipur made her way into the medal match via the repechage route after Morichika reached the women's -63kg final.

In the repechage round, Chanambam beat Slovakia's Ilariia Tsurkan first before setting up the bronze medal match against Geilen.

This is the second age group world championships medal for Chanambam, who also holds the distinction of being the first Indian judoka to be crowned the cadet world champion. She had achieved that feat three years back in 2022.

Over the last year, Chanambam struggled with injuries. She was sidelined for a significant amount of time with an ACL injury and had made her return to competitive judo only earlier this year.