Avtar Singh (judoka)
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
3 April 1992 Gurdaspur, Punjab, India | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.94 m (6.4 ft)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Sport | Judo | ||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Men's 90 kilograms | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 31 May 2016. | |||||||||||||
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Avtar Singh (born 3 April 1992) is an Indian judoka who has qualified to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Personal life
Singh was born on 3 April 1992 in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India.[1] Whilst growing up in Kothe Ghurala village he spent time working on his parents farm.[2] He works as an assistant sub inspector for the Punjab Police.[3]
Judo
He represented India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland. In the men's middleweight event he was defeated by eventual silver medallist Matthew Purssey of Scotland in the round of 16.[1]
Singh competed in just six events from 2015 until May 2016, with problems with the Indian Federation and with getting funding preventing him from travelling to tournaments. Before a Grand Prix event in Turkey in 2016 his parents gave him their life savings to allow him to pay for tickets to travel to Turkey.[2] At the 2016 South Asian Games held in India, Singh took part in the 90 kg division.[4] He defeated Sanjay Maharjan of Nepal and Md Jahangir Alam of Bangladesh to reach the final where he beat Mohammad Kakar of Afghanistan inside 49 seconds to win the gold medal.[5] At the Asian Judo Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in April 2016, he reached the semifinals before losing to Tajikistan’s Komronshokh Ustopiriyon. He then defeated Saeed Moradi of Iran in the repcharge round before losing his final bout to Chinese judoka Xunzhao Cheng to place fifth overall.[2][6][7][8]
His results in 2016 allowed him to improve his world ranking from below 200th up to 79th, high enough for him to secure one of the Asian continental qualification quota places for the men's 90 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics due to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[2][3]
Competing in his first Olympics, held at Rio in 2016, Avtar lost in the first round against Popole Misenga of the Refugee Olympic Team in the Men's 90 Kg event. The opponent won the match by the move Yuko.[9]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Avtar Singh Biography". Official website of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Judge, Shahid (19 May 2016). "Where others doubted Avtar Singh backs himself, wins Rio Olympics 2016 judo quota". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- 1 2 Kamal, Kamaljit Singh (19 May 2016). "Gurdaspur judoka Avtar makes it to Rio Olympics 2016". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ "South Asian Games: Indian judokas target 10 gold medals". DNA India. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ "SAG Pakistan, India share judo golds at South Asian Games on final day". Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ "Two Indian Judokas in race for Rio qualification". Times of India. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ "Asian Championships Tashkent". judoinside.com. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ Kar, Tanjur. "Rio Olympics 2016: Avtar Singh books Olympic berth in Judo". sportskeeda. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ↑ "Olympics 2016: Judoka Avtar Singh loses to Popole Misenga; bows out of Rio Games". First Post. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.