Asmita Dey wins India's first Commonwealth Games judo gold
Asmita Dey became the first Indian judoka to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow when she defeated Canada's Heidi Quach in the women's 48kg final, which was decided in Golden Score. The 23-year-old from Tripura entered the Games ranked among the world's top 50 in her category.
Dey described the victory as the fulfilment of a promise she made to herself before travelling to Scotland, saying, "Even before I boarded the flight to Glasgow, I had only one thing in my mind -- I had to win the gold medal. I kept telling myself that I would return to India with the gold," she told PTI on the sidelines of the felicitation ceremony for the judo medallists at Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's residence on Tuesday.
The final was hard-fought and went into Golden Score. "When she scored against me, for a couple of seconds I thought I might lose. But my coach, Yashpal Solanki sir, kept reminding me that the gold was ours and that I had to win it. That gave me confidence. I became more aggressive, levelled the match and then it went into the Golden Score. I scored first in the Golden Score and won the gold medal," she said.
On the mental side of competition, Dey singled out mindset over physical training. "I believe that no matter how much we train, if you look at the players in my weight category in India, many of us undergo almost the same training. The real difference lies in the mindset. It is about who is mentally stronger, who can handle pressure better during competition, and who has greater confidence and self-belief. Those things matter the most. Physically, others may be as strong as me, but a strong mentality is what ultimately makes the difference," she emphasised.
Dey traced her start in judo to 2014 in Tripura after attending sports school trials at her uncle's urging; she travelled with her cousin on a bicycle to Agartala for the selection process. Coaches who noticed her performance introduced her to judo and she progressed from district to state champion before moving onto the international circuit.
Despite the Commonwealth success, Dey has already shifted her focus to the upcoming Asian Games and resumed training almost immediately after the final despite a painful hand injury. She is working to improve her ne-waza (ground techniques) to challenge powerhouses such as Japan, China and South Korea, and she hopes to train in Valencia and Japan before the Games while continuing to rely on coach Yashpal Solanki and learning from videos of Japanese stars Hifumi Ono and Uta Abe.