Youth Olympics 2026: Khushbu Darjada wins judo silver

Khushbu Darjada claimed the silver medal in girls' -63kg judo at the 2026 Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal on Monday.

Darjada, who belongs to the Siddi Tribe, went down via ippon in the gold medal match against Germany's Jolina Reinhold to secure the silver medal.

Earlier, the 15-year-old Darjada had a commanding run in the tournament.

She had opened her campaign with a 1-0 yuko victory over Guinea's Mamaissata Camara in the round of 16. A yuko is a minor scoring point awarded for an effective technique.

The Gujarat judoka then overwhelmed Morocco's Abir Bouazzaoui in the quarterfinals, winning by ippon, before storming into the final with another ippon victory over Algeria's Dounia Berrahoual.

An ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in judo. It is similar to knockout in boxing or victory by fall in Olympic wrestling, in the sense that whoever scores an ippon wins the match immediately.

Darjada's silver medal came just hours after Dhinidhi Desinghu opened India's medal tally at the 2026 Youth Olympics with a silver in girls' 100m freestyle swimming.

Darjada's silver is also only India's second medal in judo at the Youth Olympic Games after Thangjam Tababi Devi's silver in girls' 44kg during the last edition at Buenos Aires eight years ago in 2018.