Photo Courtesy: nenews
Agartala: Asmita Dey made history in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian judoka to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The 23-year-old from Belonia, Tripura, toppled Canada’s Heidi Quach in the women’s 48kg final. She secured the win 2-1 by Yuko during a tense Golden Score period. This victory marks a watershed moment for Indian sports. It ends a 36-year wait for a judo gold at these games.
Dey’s path to the podium required grit. She dominated Scotland’s Eva Ewing with an ippon in the quarter-finals. She then edged past local favorite Summer Shaw in the semi-finals. An emotional Dey addressed the crowd after her win. "This is my first Commonwealth Games, and I have won a gold medal in it, and I am very happy today, sir," she said. "This medal was very important for me, for my country, for my police, for my state, sir, and for everyone."
The athlete faces ongoing grief. Her father, Arjun Kumar Dey, passed away in December 2025. He operated a bicycle repair shop and always pushed her toward sports. "My father left us in December 2025. He supported me a lot. After my father passed away, I felt like everything was finished. But two months later, there were trials for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, in which I came first at the nationals," she noted. Her mother, Munna, and brother, Debabrata, celebrated the win from their home in Belonia.
Born on March 22, 2003, Dey initially chased speed on the track as an 800m sprinter. A coach redirected her to judo, where she thrived under Bina Debnath at the Belonia Vidyapeeth Coaching Centre. She later refined her craft at the Tripura Sports School under Manik Lal Deb. In 2018, she joined the Sports Authority of India Regional Centre in Bhopal, training under Yashpal Solanki. She is currently a sub-inspector with the Uttar Pradesh Police, stationed in Ghaziabad.
Her international rise includes a 2022 podium finish at the Asian Cadet and Junior Judo Competition, a 2023 Junior Asia Cup gold, silver at the Kuwait Asian Open, and a 2025 title at the Casablanca African Open. Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha and Sports Minister Tinku Roy lauded her achievement. This gold brings India’s tally in Glasgow to 18 medals: four gold, nine silver, and five bronze. Other gold medalists include Mirabai Chanu, Sharmila Dhankar, and Dilip Gavit. Silver went to Rishikanta Singh, Muthupandi Raja, Gyaneshwari Yadav, Sarvesh Kushare, Valluri Ajaya Babu, Harjinder Kaur, Gulveer Singh, Murali Sreeshankar, Mohammed Basil, and Lovepreet Singh. Bronze medalists are Jhandu Kumar, Bindyarani Devi, Shilpa K Shyla, and Seema Kaliramna.
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