Narender Singh (judoka)

Narender Singh Kodan (28 May 1969 – 5 February 2016) was an Indian judoka who competed at two Olympic Games.[1]

Narender Singh
Personal information
Birth nameNarender Singh Kodan
NationalityIndian
Born(1969-05-28)28 May 1969
Delhi, India
Died5 February 2016(2016-02-05) (aged 46)
Jalandhar, India
Spouse(s)Sunith Thakur
Sport
Country India
SportJudo
Medal record
Men's Judo
Commonwealth Games
1990 Auckland60 kg

Biography

Singh, who was born in Delhi, won his first national championship in 1985.[2] He represented his country for the first time at the 1989 South Asian Games and won a gold medal.[2] In the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland he was the joint bronze medallist in the Extra Lightweight division.[3] He is the first judoka to have represented India twice at the Summer Olympic Games.[4] At his first appearance in Barcelona in 1992 he was eliminated in the first round of competition, by Egypt's Ahmed El Sayed.[5] In 1996 he was one of four men who had to play a qualifying match in order to reduce the field to the required 32 judoka, which he won over Ireland's Sean Sullivan. He then lost in the round of 32, held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, to Natik Bagirov from Belarus.[6]

In 1999, he was the only Indian judoka to be featured in the Arjuna Awards.[2]

He was a member of the Punjab Police but Singh was suspended from his duties in 2013 on suspicion of attempted murder. The incident occurred when Singh got into an altercation with a youth over parking and discharged his firearm.[4]

He committed suicide at his residence on 5 February 2016. His wife, former Indian Olympian Sunith Thakur, found him hanging by a wire from his ceiling fan.[7] Since being suspended by the Punjab Police he had been reportedly suffering from depression.[8] His friend, Punjab MLA Pargat Singh was quoted as saying "It is the failure of the department that cost the life of an acclaimed sportsperson. Despite being on suspension for over two years, no senior officer considered his plea for reinstatement. When Narinder failed in his attempts, he opted to end his life. It is shameful".[9]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Narinder Singh Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  2. Bhattal, Amardeep (23 October 1999). "Rare honour for Punjab judoka". The Tribune. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  3. "The Medal Winners". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax News Store. 5 February 1990. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. "Judoka cop Narinder fought for India in two Olympics". Times of India. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  5. "Olympic Results". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax News Store. 3 August 1992. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  6. "Judo". The Sydney Morning Herald. newspapers.com. 28 July 1996. p. 53. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  7. "Arjuna awardee SP commits suicide". Hindustan Times. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  8. Bhardwaj, Nikhil (6 February 2016). "SP was depressed, dept let him down, say colleagues". The Tribune. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  9. "Police to blame for SP's death: Pargat". The Tribune. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
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