Hoshiarpur players shine at State Karate Championship

Karate athletes from Hoshiarpur delivered an impressive performance at the Punjab State Karate Championship held in Sunam Udham Singh Wala. Organised by the District Sangrur Karate Association under the aegis of the Sports Karate Organisation of Punjab (SKOP), the event featured junior, under-21 and senior categories for boys and girls, drawing nearly 300 participants from across the state.

Representing Hoshiarpur, three players from Jagmohan’s Institute of Traditional Karate (JITK) — international karateka Aarti Kumari, Aaditya Bakshi and junior team leader Akshita Sharma — delivered notable performances.

Aarti Kumari emerged as the star performer, bagging gold medals in both Kata and Kumite in the under-21 girls’ category. District Karate Association General Secretary and chief coach Shihan Jagmohan Vij said Aarti has maintained an unbeaten streak at the state level, winning gold in every state championship from 2014 to 2026 across sub-junior, cadet, junior and under-21 divisions in both disciplines — a first for any karateka from Punjab.

In the senior boys’ category, Aaditya Bakshi, representing Sarvanand Giri Law College, secured a silver medal in Kata and a bronze in Kumite. Akshita Sharma also added to the tally with a gold medal in the junior girls’ Kata event.

Earlier, in the 1990s, Hoshiarpur’s Pooja Sood and Sushmana Dogra had also brought laurels to the district with wins in sub-junior, junior and senior categories, though cadet and under-21 divisions were not part of competitions then.