Sadia Tariq, the Kashmiri girl who won a gold medal at the International Wushu Championship held in Russian capital Moscow in the last week of February (22 to 28), was felicitated for her achievement here on Monday by the Indian Army’s XV Corps, also known as the Chinar Corps.
Called to the stage to deliver an address to a distinguished gathering of guests that included General Officer Commanding of the Chinar Corps, Lt Gen D.P. Pandey (Chief Guest), Sadia recalled the excitement and thrill she and her family felt when she was selected in the Indian women’s team for the globally approved event.
Tariq, who hails from Srinagar, is a two-time gold medallist in the Junior National Wushu championship. She defeated the local favourite in the globally approved event.
“I was excited when I was selected for the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship. It was a proud movement not only for me, but also for my parents, my nation, the Indian Wushu Federation, my coaches and my school,” Sadia said.
Recalling the time she was selected for India after winning two gold medals at the Junior Wushu Championships held in Punjab and Haryana, Tariq said: “I had been practicing for the last seven years to achieve that goal of representing India. The credit for it goes to my dear parents, my great coaches, teachers and my school, who always supported and encouraged me to do well in all events related to the sport. I was able to win Gold in Moscow because of the training I had to do under the guidance of my coaches. They trained me a lot.”
Sadia said that she was extremely grateful and thankful for the warm welcome and celebration that took place across the country after she had won the gold medal in Moscow by defeating the local favourite in the final.
“I am thankful to the whole nation and thank the Honourable Prime Minister Sir for tweeting about my achievement. I wish to also thank the Indian Army for continuously taking initiatives to engage youth in different sports and cultural activities,” she said.
Personally thanking Lt Gen Pandey for all the encouragement and support he had given her and other sportspersons in the Kashmir Valley, Sadia said: “I thank the Indian Army for providing a platform to students to showcase their talent at the national and international levels. I have seen Lt Gen Pandey Sir being very active on social media and in practical life too.”
Tariq is over the moon over her landmark achievement, but believes this is not the end of the road for her, and would like to accept more challenges that her sport offers to take her to the next level of national pride and glory.
In the Moscow Wushu Stars Championships, she took part in three fights – the first one was against a competitor from Kazakhstan and the second and third contests were both with Russians.
After her win, she had told Brighter Kashmir in an interview that she would like the government to think of schemes for providing Kashmiri sportspersons with more facilities locally as well as in other parts of India so that they could bring more medals and glory for India.
She had also then said that the support she was getting from the government was just fine and hoped it would continue in the same vein.
As far as struggles were concerned, Sadia said every individual, irrespective of gender, must be ready and determined to face them and never give up.
