India’s MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal, who created history at the Asian Games in Japan by becoming the country’s first medallist in mixed martial arts, has extended her support to boxing legend Mary Kom, who is currently participating in Bigg Boss 20.
Speaking to IANS at the Asian Games, Tariyal praised Mary Kom’s performance on the reality show and wished her success.
“Hello Mary Kom Didi, how are you? You are playing very well,” Tariyal said.
Wishing the boxing icon good luck, she added, “You’ve really got everyone in a tizzy. Everyone is scared of you. You are a legend; you will win. All the best.”
Tariyal scripted history on Monday by securing a bronze medal in the women’s traditional -60kg event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, making her India’s first Asian Games medallist in MMA.
Her campaign ended in the semifinals after she suffered a narrow defeat to Singapore’s Hui Hoon Teo in a bout that went into overtime. Although the defeat ended her hopes of fighting for gold, Tariyal secured a place on the podium in MMA’s debut at the Asian Games.
The bronze medal adds to a career spanning multiple combat disciplines. A national-level judoka, Tariyal represented India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she reached the bronze-medal bout. She later competed in kurash at the 2023 Asian Games.
Meanwhile, the 20th season of Bigg Boss began on September 6 with a lineup of 16 celebrity contestants. The contestants include MC Mary Kom, Kanika Mann, Mahhi Vij, Kushal Tanwar, Aman Gandhi, Isha Rikhi, Arishfa Khan, Qazi Touqeer, Asif Khan, Aamrapali Dubey, Rhiti Tiwari, Uditi Singh, Tanmay Singh aka ScoutOP, Yung DSA and Love Gill.
Bigg Boss is the Indian Hindi-language adaptation of the Dutch reality television format Big Brother and airs on Colors TV.