Youngest Kick boxer 13 years old India’s Tajamul Islam made the country proud for the second time by winning gold at the World Kickboxing Championships held in Cairo, Egypt.
A student of 7th standard of Army Goodwill School in Bandipora, Tajamul defeated Argentina’s Lalina in the final of the Under – 14 category.
“I had four bouts – two with Egypt, semi-final with France and faced Argentina in the final of the World Kickboxing Championship,” added the young talent Islam.
“Now I am a two-time World Kickboxing Champion, with no words to express my happiness. 112 countries had participated…We should encourage girls, they can do anything. My aim is to represent India at the Olympics,” said Tajamul Islam, who recently won the gold medal.
“I had represented India in Italy in 2016 too, in the under-9 category”..the talented kickboxer added.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha congratulated her on the achievement. “Many congratulations to Tajamul Islam of Bandipora for scripting history in Cairo Egypt by winning the Gold medal at the World Kickboxing Championship 2021. Our young kickboxing champion has done exceptionally well over the years.”
This little Muslim girl Tajamul comes from a remote village called Tarkpora in Bandipora district, 56 Kilometers from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir where she lives with her father (who drives for a living), mother and four siblings. Tajamul’s natural aptitude for kickboxing was first spotted by the Army Goodwill School in Tarkpora. But there was no proper infrastructure in place to train for the sport. Tajamul’s first coach Faisal Ali trained her in an open field with makeshift apparatus.
She started kickboxing in 2014 when she joined a local martial arts training academy and picked up a gold medal in a state championship in Jammu. Then she defeated a 13-year-old opponent to pick up the gold medal in India’s national kickboxing championship in 2015.
In an earlier interview, Tajamul’s mentor Faisal Ali told the media that sometimes she has practised up to 25 hours a week.
Her mother has been very supportive of her daughter’s sporting efforts.Tajamul is close to her younger brother, Adnan-ul-Islam, who wants to follow in her footsteps. She often plays with Adnan and does not mind pretending to lose to him.
She has also become an inspiration for the youth in the Kashmir valley.She love to dance and run a kick boxing academy in her state.
She also wants to be an Army Doctor.
(With inputs by Pratyusha Mukherjee)