Three Valley girls shine in China tae kwon do meet

Rifat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 31

A girl from the frontier town of Kupwara has brought laurels to the country by winning a gold medal at the Macau Tae kwon do Championship.

Momina Manzoor, a resident of Lolab, Kupwara, won the medal at the tournament that was held on October 29.

Two other girls, Manar Mushtaq (10) and Mehsoon Fatima (12) from Srinagar and Leh, respectively, have won silver medals in the championship. Officials said the championship was organised by the Macau Tae kwon do Association on October 29 in which the three girls showed extraordinary performance. “They are still in China and will be reaching Kashmir on November 2. I am very proud of her,” said Manzoor Ahmad, the father of Momina Manzoor, who is a student of Doon International School and studying in Class VII. Manar Mushtaq, who is a student of Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, has been spending extra three hours at the school for training after she finishes her classes which bore fruits finally, said her father Mushtaq Ahmad. He said Manar, a student of Class IV, has been very dedicated to the game and has been working hard during the training for the past two years.

Mushtaq Ahmad, father of Mehsoon Fatima, who hails from Leh and is a student of Doon International School, said his daughter had been playing football, basketball and cricket and was interested in sports from childhood.

“She has been training intensively for the past three months which helped her win a silver medal in Macau. I always support her,” he said.

It was not easy for the young girls to take part in the game. A delay in help by the sports authorities in Kashmir made their families to bear all the cost of participation in China.

“The Sports Minister wrote a letter that all these students who have been selected to take part in the game in China should get help but the lower authorities misplaced the letter which delayed the whole process. It was their families who spent more than Rs one lakh to help them take part in the game. Nothing was done at the government level which is very unfortunate,” said a source who is associated with tae kwon do in Kashmir. He said a number of students were selected for the tournament but they couldn’t afford to bear the cost and due to lack of timely help by the government, they missed the opportunity.