Indian Mixed Martial Arts fighter Suchika Tariyal has already made her name in history books in the MMA for her first Asian Games medal in MMA at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games. In the Women’s Traditional 60kg category, Tariyal showed strong performance to win bronze, and her semifinal loss against Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo is now being challenged by the Indian camp.
Tariyal’s historic run reached the semifinals after defeating Mongolia’s Altanchimeg Baigalmaa in the quarterfinal 2-0. The Indian fighter was strong and tough despite strong pressure from her opponent. India won a medal in MMA and a huge moment in the country’s development in the sport.
But the semifinal against Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo ended in dramatic fashion. The match was level after regulation time, Tariyal’s coach Nikhil Kunder explained, and so went into an extra round. The decision after the extra round went in Teo’s favour and Tariyal’s season ended at the semifinal stage.
The Indian side has disputed that outcome and has taken the matter to arbitration. Kunder said the Indian side believes the fight was tied after regulation and is waiting for the arbitration process to determine whether the result could be changed.
Kunder said that the judges were divided in the extra round. One judge awarded the decision to India, while two judges scored the extra round in favour of Singapore. The split decision ultimately resulted in Teo winning and Tariyal failing in the competition.
“We have challenged the decision. The match was a draw. We are waiting for arbitration results. We hope it will change the final result,” Kunder said, according to the report. He added that the fight had been scored as a draw before going into overtime and the Indian camp then challenged the decision.
Despite the semifinal performance of Tariyal, her place in Indian sports history is already well etched. Her bronze medal is the first MMA medal in the Asian Games and a watershed moment for Indian fighters to compete on the continental stage.
Her quarterfinal performance against Baigalmaa was very important in ensuring the historic moment. Baigalmaa came in the second and final round aggressively and tried to put Tariyal under sustained pressure. The Indian fighter remained calm and defensive and dealt with the attacks.
Tariyal then had a great reversal that changed the momentum of the competition. She took Baigalmaa to the ground and stayed in control until the end of the round. It was great enough to win 2-0 and send the Indian fighter into the semifinals.
The medal also comes at the time when India’s MMA contingent suffered another setback. Another Indian fighter Varun Sanyal’s campaign was also stopped before he could compete due to medical reasons. Tariyal became the most prominent figure for the Indian MMA team at the Games.
For Tariyal, the bronze medal is more than an individual achievement. It is also a new benchmark for Indian MMA at the Asian Games and could bring to the country the sport and the athletes in it a greater degree of visibility. Her win in Aichi-Nagoya also underscores the dominance of the Women’s Traditional 60kg category.
The arbitration process is now in play with the Indian camp’s challenge to the semifinal decision. But until the verification is completed, Tariyal is still the historic bronze medallist who gave India its first Asian Games MMA medal. And while the decision of whether the semifinal result should be revisited would be decided by her medal-winning performance, her place in India’s history will be etched.
