SRINAGAR: A Kashmiri girl Sadia Tariq came up with a brilliant performance to win the gold medal in the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship which is being held in the Russian capital from February 22 to 28.
Sadia Tariq, who hailed from Bemina, Srinagar, has consecutively bagged gold medals in 19th and 20th Junior National Championship held in Haryana and Jalandhar respectively. In the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship, Sadia won the gold medal by defeating a local favourite at the event.
Sadia, who came into sports at a young age, did his schooling from Presentation Convent Srinagar and started playing in school events when she was in her first grade. “When I was in my first grade our fitness teacher came to our class and announced about the sports tourney in our school, I was the first one to register for the event”, Sadia said.
Appreciating her parents support from the very young age, Sadia elatedly said, “I remember my Father just told me if I am interested in sports, he will always support me. I was very happy and choose taekwondo as the game and from the very next day I started my training”.
After training for a year, Sadia started to participate in district and division level sports events. “I went for my first competition from school level which was organized by Indian Army at Bandipora district and I won bronze medal. I started getting appreciation from my coaches and school administration which kept my morale high in this field”, said Sadia.
After her success in local events, the star Wushu player started to participate in national level events. “After winning bronze medal in local events, my coaches appreciated me and encouraged me to participate in national level events and the same year I went to New Delhi for participation in 3rd open India taekwondo championship and won bronze medal”, a happy Sadia remarked.
Sadia then started to play on regular basis and featured in many events like sub-juniors National Taekwondo championship where she won her first gold medal. In 2018, Sadia won bronze medal in Hyderabad for International Junior Taekwondo Championship and also participated in Imphal, Nagaland for 64th National school games.
Sadia’s career took a turn when she decided to switch from Taekwondo to Wushu sport. “Our Kashmir Wushu Chief Executive Officer and Chief coach of India, Kuldeep Handoo, encouraged me to switch over from taekwondo to Wushu which was hard for me but I took it as a challenge and started training for Wushu”, Sadia said. After proper training, Sadia started to participate in professional Wushu events and earned her name.
“I participated in National Level Wushu championship held at Kolkata and won bronze medal which motivated me and earned my love for this sport”, Sadia maintained.
Sadia’s elder sister also joined sports and is professional Martial Arts player. “In March 2021, I won gold medal at 2nd Junior National Championship at Haryana in which my sister also participated. She has also played for National level championship in Gujarat and state level championships and won few gold medals”, Sadia said.
Sadia has dedicatedly chosen sports as her career and wants to make her country proud by getting more medals. “I don’t want to be a doctor or an engineer, my dream is to represent country at International events and win gold for J&K and country in Olympics”, Sadia remarked with confidence.
Sadia said that sports keeps us away from mental agonies like anxiety, stress and depression and all the parents in the valley should encourage their wards to take an active part in sports. She added that it was her mother’s and her own dream to represent herself at international platform and her dream came true by bagging gold medal at the International platform. She hoped that the government will extend every support to female sportspersons and provide them a platform to showcase their unique talent.
The star Wushu player also made a fervent appeal to all parents of J&K to support and encourage their wards particularly girls in sports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to wish the young Wushu champion.
“Congratulations to Sadia Tariq on winning the Gold medal at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship. Her success will inspire many budding athletes. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor and Vice President Sports Council Farooq Khan, on Saturday greeted star Wushu player for winning gold medal in Moscow Wushu Stars Championship held in Russia this week.
“We are proud of Sadiq Tariq for bringing laurels for the country at the International arena by winning gold medal in Moscow Wushu Stars Championship,” Khan asserted.
He said that India especially Jammu and Kashmir is proud of 15 year old Sadiq Tariq for her brilliant performance in the international level tournament.
Principal Secretary, Youth Services and Sports Department, Alok kumar, also congratulated Tariq and Sports Council.
Advisor khan also congratulated National Chief Coach Wushu and CEO, Kuldeep Handoo, President J&K Wushu Association, Vijay Saraf for training Sadia and her colleagues.
Advisor khan thanked MYAS and the Sports Authority of India for sanctioning, facilitating and ensuring participation of Indian team in Moscow Wushu Stars championship.
He hoped that Sadia Tariq will perform better in Youth Asian Games slated to be held in the month of December in China.
In her felicitation message, Secretary, J&K Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul, said that Jammu and Kashmir government under the dynamic leadership of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, is rendering full support to all those youngsters who are interested in sports activities and aspiring to pursue career in sports activities.
“This is the real meaning of Beti Padao Beti Bachao and we ensure every child gets opportunity to express his/her sporting skills,” she added.
