A girl from Nehama village of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district has won the gold medal in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Championship in Delhi.
Shariya Manzoor of Nehama has become first female boxer from South Kashmir to have won a gold medal in MMA national championship.
“This is my 9th Gold medal in nationals,” Shariya said, adding that she has been playing martial arts for past six years.
Shariya is a student at Government Degree College Pulwama. She competed in senior category under 75 weight group. “I defeated my opponent from Tamil Naidu,” she said, adding that the competition was not easy.”
“I played to my full potential, I knocked my opponent out in the first round in 1 minute and 33 seconds only,” she said, adding that the match was scheduled to finish in three rounds, each round of 3 minutes.
She credited her coach Owais Yaqoob, who runs a martial arts academy in Pulwama, for her success.
She also appreciated J and K Association for MMA for promoting her. She is also recipient of young leadership award handed over to her by LG of J and K Manoj Sinha in 2021.
Shariya was also selected for the International Thai boxing championship but couldn’t participate for want of sponsorship.
She has also a certificate in boxing from Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) Patiala.
