Haryana's wushu duo wins gold

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New Delhi, December 9

Haryana’s Aryan and Dhruv opened India’s account at the Junior Wushu World Championships with two gold medals. Aryan, who hails from Samalkha (Panipat), beat Egypt’s Omar Mohamed Fathi 2-1 in sanda to win the boys’ sub-junior 42kg gold in Jakarta. Sonepat’s Dhruv beat Egypt’s Youssef Yehla Shahaat Ahmed 2-0 to win the boys’ sub-junior 52kg gold.

“I am very happy that I have won my first ever international gold medal. This will give me confidence to work hard and win more medals,” said the 13-year-old Aryan, whose father is a shopkeeper.

While Aryan’s interest was ignited by a training academy close to his house, Dhruv’s path into the sport was not as straightforward. The 14-year-old first trained to be a wrestler before picking wushu. “It is very hard to make it in wrestling as there are a big number of trainees. I changed to wushu thinking I have a better chance to progress. Today I feel vindicated,” Dhruv said.