Ladakh’s Zahara Batool wins gold at U-19 Taekwondo Nationals in Jammu

Jammu, Nov 16: Zahara Batool of Ladakh clinched gold in the U-19 Girls -55 kg category, and Jayanti Muvel of Madhya Pradesh bagged silver, while the bronze medals in this weight category went to Avanthika V of Kerala and Nikita Dilip Pawar of Maharashtra in the ongoing 69th National School Games U-19 Girls Taekwondo Championship at Indoor Sports Complex Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu.

The Championship, as per a statement issued on Sunday, is being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, J&K, under the aegis of the School Games Federation of India and under the leadership of Director General of Youth Services and Sports J&K, Anuradha Gupta. Joint Director of Youth Services and Sports Jammu, Vinakshi Koul, is the organising secretary of the event.

The competitions in three weight categories of -55, -42 and -40 were held on day 2 on Sunday.

In U-19 Girls, U-42 KG category, Jananir of Kerala secured Gold, Kowsalya Sithuraj of Tamil Nadu won Silver, while the Bronze medals in this category went to Sneha Sahu of Delhi and Kakul of Haryana.

Meanwhile, the competitions in the U-19 Girls U-40 KG category were in progress. The semifinal and final bouts were yet to be played.

Jammu & Kashmir athletes faced tough competition in all three weight categories, with Reet Dutta narrowly losing to Avanthika V of Kerala in the -55 kg category, and Irtiqa Mehraj of Jammu & Kashmir falling short against Kakul of Haryana.

The event has drawn around 450 athletes from 36 states, union territories, and organisations across the country, all competing for top honours.