A 15-year-old Kashmiri student has made the country proud by striking gold at the World Kick Boxing Championship in Argentina.
Aabid Hamid, a class X student of Army Goodwill School, Hanzik, who was part of nine-member Team India, won the lone gold medal for the country. Eight other players including three from Kashmir won silver medals at the tourney.
What made the success sweeter was that the lone girl in the nine-member Team India hailed from Kashmir. Fifteen-year-old Class IX student Aabroo Bashir from the border district of Bandipora in North Kashmir won the silver medal at the Championship.
In fact four out of the nine member kick-boxing team representing India in the World Kickboxing Championship in Argentina were selected from Kashmir.
"Aabid had a dream run in the Championship and bagged gold by outperforming his opponents. In the closely contested finals, Hashim, Abroo and Irshad Ahmad Ganie bagged Silver medals after losing by slender margins", said an army spokesman.
Hashim Ashraf and Aabid Hamid represented Team India in Wushu at Moscow Wushu Stars 2017 competition, in November 2017, in Russia. During the competition, Hashim Ashraf won a silver medal and made the nation proud.
In fact it was the Indian Army which spotted the talent of Hashim Ashraf and Aabid Hamid when they joined Army Goodwill School. Seeing their interest in sports and Martial Arts, the Army decided to invest in the students who were from a humble background.
Coming from a humble background, Irshad Ahmad and Aabroo Bashir were financially supported by the Bandipora district administration after they qualified for the world championship.
"It is a big honour for Kashmir that all the four players have won medals for the country. The biggest honour is that the only female who represented India hails from Kashmir", said Faisal Ali Dar, the coach of the state kickboxing team.
Dar said the winners will now inspire many parents to allow their wards to participate in the sports events. "Parents will now be motivated to allow their kids to participate in sports", he said.
Earlier in 2016, Tajamul Islam became the youngest Kashmiri girl to strike gold for India in the world kickboxing championship in Italy. A class II student of Army Goodwill School, Bandipora, was the youngest contestant of the Indian contingent in Italy.
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