Opening ceremony of two days Farooq Memorial Open Taekwondo Championships held on Wednesday 31st May 2023 at Sher-E-Kashmir Indoor Sports Complex, Srinagar .
The Championship was held under the emblem of My Youth My Pride and was organized by J&K Taekwondo Association (Regd) under the aegis of Taekwondo Federation of India, In the Sweet memory of Late Janab Farooq Ahmed (Founder of Taekwondo in Kashmir). There was no entry fee in the event. Sound System and Refreshment for the athletes was sponsored by Indian Army (Chinar Corps).
The competition was comprised of all age divisions with inclusion of the youngest age division (Pee Wee). The first day witnessed a massive combative skill show between the Senior and Junior Athlete's in both male and female categories. More than 700 players participated in different weight categories from all districts of UT - J&K.
The opening ceremony was addressed by Shri Subash Chander Chhibber (Director, DYSS) as Chief Guest along with Rouf Ahmed Bhat (Sports Promoter & Under Secretary to Govt.) Janab Ishfaq Ahmed ( Former Int'l Football Player & Head Coach, Kerala Blasters Football Club) as Guest of Honour and Special Guest was Janab Hilal Ahmed and Shafiq Ahmed in the event.
Subash Chander Chhibber (Director YSS), Chief Guest of the event along with the other dignitaries of JKTA distributed medals among all the medalist's and momento of honour were given to Coaches/ Referees also.While speaking on the auspicious occasion he congratulated all the medalists and participants for taking part in the said championship and also applauded the J&K Taekwondo Association for uplifting the Taekwondo sport in the UT.
The Championship was headed by Shri Nissar Ahmed (Vice President, JKTA) with support of Mr. Anees Bhat, Rohit Sharma, Faisal Tanvir and Zain Nazir and the Technical Team , who displayed the fairplay decisions throughout the Championship was led by Atul Pangotra (International Referee,WT).
In the referee panel, Vinod Garewal, Shanaz Parveen, Farooq Ahmed Malik, Tanveer Ahmed Ganie, Suhail Ahmed Khan, Hashim Majeed, Shah Faiq, Aqib Gulzar, Adeeba Khursheed, Kushagra Sharma, Humaira Manzoor, Shah Faisal, Faizan Ahmed Butt, Musadiq Qayoom, Dushyant Kapta, Kartik Sharma and Tabin Muzafar.
In the Supporting Panel for the smooth conduct of above said event are Musadiq Qayoom, Danish, Adnan Adhfar, Ishan Parihar, Azad Beig and Farhan.
All the Medalists will represent J&K - UT in the forthcoming LG Cup All India Taekwondo Championships - 2023.