CWG 2022: Shushila, a wounded hero

So, Shushila put up with the pain for a whole 10 days till she reached the 48kg final, ensuring she never drew attention to a walking wound. “I couldn’t walk properly till today,” she would say at the Coventry Arena.

By Monday, facing Geronay Michaela Whitebooi – a particularly hyper-active, restless soul given to constant attacking – poking, gripping like a boa, feinting and then pouncing – Shushila lasted the first round with both pointless, and the bout got dragged into golden score – extra time.

But you know the tale of Achilles. Not quite the ankle, but the dorsal caught up with the brave, resilient woman eventually. About 25 seconds after some heroic defending where she managed a bridge attack on her opponent but couldn’t get a pin, where she didn’t concede points on that hurting leg, Shushila watched Michaela pounce in one fell swoop, and enforce a split-second throw turning her on the back. Caught in being cautious and defending that right leg, hassled and harried by the younger South African, the continental champion, Shushila, ended with a silver – her second after the Glasgow Games of 2014.

“Bilkul achha nahi lag rahaa hai. Socha gold lungi… gold hi chahiye tha. Dil toot gayaa (Not feeling good at all. Thought will win gold, gold is what I wanted. I’m heartbroken),” she said later.

For someone who keeps herself peppy and perked up during months of solitude and training at the Inspire Institute in Vijayangar, listening to Kishore Kumar songs, the next few days would have ‘dukhi mann mere suun Mera kehna’ the next few days. “Achha nahi gaati. Bas gaati hoon (I don’t sing well, but sing nevertheless)” she would say, still downcast ahead of the medal ceremony.

A consistent medallist for the country, Shushila was aware that only a gold could catapult her and judo into a space where boxing found itself after Mary Kom or weightlifting after Mirabai Chanu. “Mujhe sab support milaa last kuchh years mein. Magar dukh hota hai main kuchh nahi kar paaya (I had all the support the last few years, but feel sad that I couldn’t do anything)” she would say, unaware of the value of a silver – where she topped her pool and stayed on an even keel in the final till the sudden blitz from her opponent.

Respect from peers

An inspiring figure for the whole judo fraternity, her opponent Michaela paid her the best tribute saying, “her skill is excellent. I just kept prodding, but it was tough to break through her.” In the end, it was the fear of the injured leg, that snapped with a wild gash in training two days before coming to Birmingham, and the fear of being attacked, that led to the momentary lapse in defence.

Attempting to get points of her own, and a tad frustrated at not being able to pin the South African, Shushila was beginning to get desperate when the African champ made her ambush.

Michaela, a two-time African champion, is known for her hassling style, but had escaped the prepping dossier made by the Indians who were waiting for an English opponent to make the final. As such, the South African from Port Elizabeth took them by surprise. Herself prone to blanking out on the mat, and falling to nerves, she had worked with mental trainers to develop a mindset for just this kind of a situation.

“It was a struggle to beat her, I really had to wait, wait, and not give her a point. Tough opponent,” she would say.

She had been encouraged to become extroverted – indulge her fashion instincts, grow a personality that she could assert on the mat. “Fashion, plus eating and sleeping, that’s what I like,” she would grin later

Shushila, on the other hand, has always preferred old Hindi songs, and a quieter life, though she uploads a few songs in Manipuri and Hindi on her social media. The pandemic had seen the largely introverted Shushila endure more loneliness, as she trained with a mask on, and fewer sparring opportunities. “It was difficult then, but I at least got a job after the Olympics. But CWG was where I wanted a medal,” she reiterated.

“I don’t want to give the stitches as an excuse. I just know I didn’t win gold. So, no one will remember silver,” she said, still cross with herself. A hamstring injury after the last Asian Games had pushed her into extended rehab, and she came into the CWG a little undercooked in judo sharpness, having to deal with the foot tear.

“I never take holidays. Just room to practice, practice to room. Some Kishore songs and dance. But then the gold didn’t come despite that. I could do nothing. Kuchh nahi kar paayaa,” she would say.

For an athlete who delivers at the Games, she wishes the struggle was more for winning an Olympic medal, than merely qualifying for it. “I hope I get a chance again,” she ended.

Welder’s son, forged in bronze

Vikas Yadav recalls his two brothers, two sisters and mother being able to eat meals on some days, only after his father, a welder at Varanasi’s Tarna village returned home from work bringing the day’s rations. “It’s been a lot of tough days, but now I have judo,” he says, after winning bronze at the CWG.

Having accompanied his friends into judo coaching, he quickly got good at it, with a wicked right grip, but reckons he’s not progressed as quickly as he should have. “Bronze is not great, but it’s a medal,” he would say later. Now he trains at the Bhopal centre, but remains thankful to his father for ensuring he never slept hungry. “We would wait for him to bring food, but he never let us sleep hungry,” he says.