Indian MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal finished the Asian Games 2026 with a bronze medal in the women’s traditional 60kg but the 36-year-old from Haryana was inconsolable and refused to shake hands with her opponent Hui Hoon Teo of Singapore.

She first refused to approach the ring referee to raise the winner’s hand. She eventually went in after her coaches coaxed her and when the referee raised her opponent’s hand, she fell on her knees on the mat and broke down. Her opponent approached her for a handshake, but Suchika did not reciprocate. Finally, one of her coaches came to the mat to lead the tearful athlete away.

The reason for Tariyal’s disappointment was the way the result was awarded. In a closely fought bout, where both fighters kept going at each other, there was no clear winner in the regulation time. The bout went into the overtime where Teo’s last minute attack was nullified by the Indian’s takedown. Both fighters were celebrating after the bout ended.

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However, the referees initially awarded the bout to the Singaporean much to the agony of the Indian camp. Later, the Indian camp protested the decision, which was followed by the bout itself being declared a draw. The winner was then decided on the basis of the weights of competing athletes according to weigh-in that was held on the morning of the bout, much like the boundary count rule that decided the Men’s Cricket World Cup of 2019. Since Suchika was 700 grams heavier than her opponent, it was the Singaporean who went through to the final and the Indian had to settle for a bronze medal.

“Suchika was inconsolable and rightfully so. It looked like she had won the bout. The first decision was reversed after we challenged it but nothing can be done about the weight rule where the lighter athlete gets the advantage,” a source told this paper.

Despite the disappointment, the bronze is India’s first-ever medal in mixed martial arts at the Asian Games.


The 36-year-old from Haryana took up combat sports after as a 12-year-old and went on to become a multi-discipline combat sport athlete, representing India in judo at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and in kurash at the 2023 Asian Games.