Nerul resident Nidhi Nair bags bronze at International Open Taekwondo Championship

Nerul resident Nidhi Nair (15) has earned accolades for the city and has made Indian proud. She has created history by becoming probably the youngest Indian to win a bronze medal at the international taekwondo Championship. Nidhi, a 10th class student of DPS School at Nerul is presently in South Korea and had achieved the remarkable feat at the 7th Chuncheon Open International taekwondo championship in the Individual Girls Juniors category in age group of 14 -18 years in the Poomsae division. The championship was held at Hoban gymnasium in Chuncheon city in South Korea from the 11 to 15th July.

An elated Nidhi said, " My target was to achieve gold medal at the international level in the sports of Taekwondo. But, a bronze medal is no less achievement at the international platform. With utter perseverance and modern taekwondo technique being imparted by my Master Nilesh Jalnawalla at Jalnawalla's Sports Training and Research Centre (JSTARC) , I shall surely hit my target in the forthcoming championships at the international level."

Says Master Nilesh Jalnawalla, a 5th DAN Black Belt, World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), South Korea and an International Master Instructor says, " Chuncheon Open is considered to be one of the most sacrosanct championships in the field of Taekwondo at the International level. The championship has being approved by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) which is an official sports body of the International Olympic Commiitee (IOC) hence it received tremendous response with participation by 2000 participants from nearly 50 countries."

Informing about Poomsae style, Nilesh informed, " Poomase is a systemized form scientifically and comprehensively aiming to allow effectively practice against an imaginary enemy. It is a formulation of various actions needed for an exchange of attacks and defense and a unique method of movement, devised in an era when it was difficult to find the opponent since competition was not a popular method, for self-training on theoretical basis."

Informing about Nidhis's skill and performance, Master Nilesh said, " Nidhi's Journey to the final round was breathtaking as she eliminated her major opponents from S Korea, Russia and Egypt. The first 2 places in her category were swept away by the Korean contenders where as Nidhi acquired the bronze along with Egypt. It's a feat to be cherished as she is the first and probably the youngest female in India to win a medal at the international taekwondo Championship of such cadre. Nidhi has been undergoing taekwondo trainng at JSTARC for the past 5 years. Two other students of JSTARC team, Aditya Seal and Vishak Vinod who also represented India in the championship made it to the semi finals in their respective categories in the Poomsae division.

Nilesh concluded, " The efforts put by JSTARC for the past several years is paying off now, Nidhi Nair's medal has set a benchmark for other Taekwondo players in India and we as an institution will constantly be engaged in promoting such new talents and bring positive results at the International arena in the coming years."