Varanasi Judo Coach Lal Kumar Dies at 62

VARANASI: Lal Kumar, the coach credited by generations of athletes with helping establish competitive judo in Varanasi, died on Sunday at Banaras Hindu University’s Sir Sunderlal Hospital. He was 62. His funeral is scheduled for 9 am on Monday at Manikarnika Ghat, according to a report citing his family and members of the local sports community.

Kumar had been injured in a dog attack around 15 days earlier and had taken anti-rabies injections on time, relatives told the publication. His condition reportedly worsened on Saturday, when he complained of uneasiness. The family first took him to a private hospital in Mahmoorganj and later to BHU’s emergency department, where he died during treatment at about 11 am on Sunday. The precise medical cause of death was not stated in the report and should not be inferred from the earlier injury alone.

For local sport, the loss reaches far beyond one coaching post. Kumar was a bronze medallist at the 1985 National Games and later completed formal coaching certification at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala. He began working with judo trainees in Varanasi in 1993 and spent a long period at Dr Sampurnanand Sports Stadium in Sigra, where a steady stream of school and college athletes learned the sport.

His trainees collectively won more than 100 medals at national and international competitions, the report said. Ram Asare Yadav and German Yadav of Bhatti were among the athletes associated with his coaching. Kumar’s name had also been proposed for the Dronacharya Award, an acknowledgement of the reputation he built through work that was often conducted away from television cameras and large sponsorships.

In recent years, he was connected with a judo training centre at Parmanandpur and also offered free instruction to children at a school campus near Englishia Line. That combination—competitive training for advanced athletes and open access for beginners—helped widen the base of the sport in a city better known nationally for wrestling, hockey and traditional akharas.

Kumar had moved with his family from Punjab to Varanasi more than three decades ago. He was also once a student of journalism at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son; one daughter lives in Singapore, another in Bengaluru, while his son works as a part-time coach in Saharanpur.

Coaches, academics and former trainees shared condolences on Sunday. Their tributes repeatedly returned to the same point: for Kumar, judo was not simply a medal route. He treated it as a discipline that could build confidence, routine and character. Varanasi now faces the practical task of protecting that legacy—keeping training affordable, supporting the coaches who remain and ensuring that the next young athlete still finds a mat and a mentor.

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