Yamini Maurya Wins Silver as India Enjoys Historic Judo Run at Commonwealth Games 2026

Glasgow, August 2026 : India’s impressive run in judo at the Commonwealth Games 2026 continued on Friday as Yamini Maurya secured the silver medal in the women’s 57kg category after a hard-fought final against England’s pre-event favourite Acelya Toprak.

The contest went down to the wire, with both judokas refusing to give ground in a gruelling battle. The final eventually entered a next-score-wins situation, with Yamini pushing Toprak throughout the marathon contest. However, the English judoka prevailed after the Indian accumulated three Shidos, or penalties, which were converted into an Ippon.

Yamini was therefore beaten by Ippon, with the official score recorded as 0-100, after an exhausting six minutes and 54 seconds of action.

Toprak, who had entered the competition as one of the leading contenders for gold, admitted the demanding nature of the bout after securing victory.

“I felt like I was dying; I don’t know if it looked like it,” Toprak told TNT Sports after completing the contest.

South Africa’s Donne Breytenbach and England’s Lele Nairne took the bronze medals in the women’s 57kg category, bringing Friday’s judo programme to a close.

Despite Yamini’s defeat in the final, the day proved to be a landmark one for the Indian contingent, with the country securing its first two gold medals in judo at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

India had three judokas reach finals during the competition, with two of them converting their opportunities into gold medals. The historic achievement marked a significant improvement from the 2022 Birmingham edition, where India’s Tulika Maan had won a silver medal.

Earlier, Asmita Dey produced a composed performance to win the women’s 48kg gold medal, defeating Canada’s Heidi Quach 2-1 in a closely contested final. Dey maintained her composure during the decisive stages and combined tactical awareness with disciplined defence to secure the biggest victory of her Commonwealth Games campaign.

India then celebrated another gold through Harsh Singh, who produced a dominant display in the men’s -60kg final. Harsh defeated Australia’s Joshua Katz by a commanding 10-0 margin, controlling the contest from the opening exchange and denying his opponent any opportunity to score.

The two gold medals, along with Yamini’s silver, have significantly strengthened India’s position in the overall medal standings.

India’s strong showing in judo has also highlighted the growing depth of the country’s combat sports programme. The performances of Asmita, Harsh and Yamini have provided the contingent with valuable momentum as competition intensifies across other disciplines.

Following the latest judo results, India moved to ninth position in the Commonwealth Games medal table with 20 medals, comprising five gold, 11 silver and four bronze.

While Yamini narrowly missed out on gold after a marathon final, her silver medal completed a memorable day for Indian judo and ensured the country emerged as one of the standout nations in the discipline at Glasgow 2026.