A resident of Sankoo village of Kargil District, Shahnaz Parveen is hailed as Taekwondo Champion as she has won numerous medals in a number of tournaments in and out of Ladakh.
Join our whatsapp group for more updates.
She comes from a household where the atmosphere was not favorable for youngsters who want to take up sports seriously especially for the girl child but her hard work and dedication has made way for her and now she is currently practicing for 3rd Mount Everest International Open Taekwondo Championship going to be held in September, 2022 and World University Games going to be held in China in August, 2023.
Shanaz Parveen started learning Taekwondo in the year 2013 and since then she has won various medals in Taekwondo sports. It is only because of her the atmosphere of Kargil for sports persons is changing for the better.
Remembering about how she started learning Taekwondo, she said that she was just eleven years old when her school announced a Taekwondo workshop and invited students. Some of her other friends hesitated to join it on the pretext that they would have to indulge in activities like kicking. But it did not bother Parveen, who was excited to learn something new, and there she was, kicking and fighting, that too, with her hijab. “I instantly said ‘yes’ to the challenge,” the 20-year-old recounts.
Her interest in the sport gradually developed as she starting taking lessons in the school’s Taekwondo class. Soon she knocked out her opponent, which was a great morale booster for her and reason to think of taking up the sport seriously. After her first tournament, Shahnaz decided that she will dedicate more of her time to sports which brought her two bronze medals, two silver medals, and four gold medals at J&K State Taekwondo Championship in just four years, starting 2017 to 2021.
Very recently Shahnaz was again in news for winning a Gold Medal in Asian Games 2021 that took place in Delhi. This made her the first woman from Ladakh selected for World University Games in China, which is currently on hold owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ALSO READ | Lt. Gen Dwivedi visits Batalik sector in Ladakh
Presently Shahnaz Parveen is pursuing graduation from MDU, Rohtak and practicing to representing India on the international level under the guidance of her coach, Atul Pangotra.
