Aichi-Nagoya, Sept. 20 -- At 36, when many athletes would be contemplating the twilight of their competitive careers, Suchika Tariyal is instead writing a new chapter for Indian combat sport.
The Indian scripted Asian Games history on Sunday, storming into the women's Traditional MMA 60kg semifinals with a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Mongolia's Altanchimeg Baigalmaa and, in the process, assuring India its first-ever medal in Mixed Martial Arts.
With MMA making its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya, Tariyal's semifinal berth guarantees her at least a bronze and puts India on the podium in a discipline in which the country had never previously competed for an Asian Games medal.
But Tariyal's journey to this historic moment has been anyth...