Srinagar, July 06 (KNO) : A 25-year-old Taekwondo player has brought laurels to Jammu and Kashmir at the state and national level by winning several medals besides taking part in international events as well.
Danish Manzoor, a resident of Gulshan Abad Baramulla of North Kashmir now aims to represent India in the 2024 Olympics. He has represented India at the 2nd India Open International Olympic Ranking championship in the 54 KG weight category.
Danish while talking with news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that since his childhood he was very much fond of sports mainly cricket, however, after watching some youth practising Taekwondo in the locality, he got inspired.
"Same day, I started the practice of Taekwondo with a few locals who were known to this art and soon I started taking part in competitions," he said.
After participating in district level tournaments, Danish got an opportunity to participate in state-level tournaments.
"In my very first state-level tournament at Jammu, I won gold," he said.
"Later, I got an opportunity to represent J&K at national level and played in Cuttack in the year 2015 and in Mahavir in 2016 where I managed to get an entry in Asian Championship and Asian Games trail," Danish said.
Danish claims that he is the only person in J&K who has won a bronze medal in Asian indoor games trials held at SAI Aurangabad.
He had played all matches in the 54 weight category till now with his 5.9 ft height and is currently practising in Atul International Taekwondo Academy trained by coach Atul Pangotra.
"My aim is to go to the 2024 Olympics for which I have already started practice and I am hopeful that I will get a spot and represent India in the next Olympics," he said.
"Currently Sportsapp, Trybwear and GOQII are supporting me in terms of sponsorship," he said. (KNO)