With a remarkable display of strength and determination, a young and talented woman athlete from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur District, made her mark at the national powerlifting championship held recently at Ranchi, Jharkhand. The 22-year-old girl Riya Mahajan from Udhampur won two bronze medals in the National Sub Junior and Junior Classic category and was ranked fourth overall in the country. The championships were held between June 6-13 in Ranchi. Her outstanding achievements not only made her the centre of attention but also an inspiration to girls all over the country especially for girls from Jammu and Kashmir. In the previous year, she won a bronze medal in the national bench press championships which was held in Goa in the year 2022. In the midst of fierce competition, Riya Mahajan displayed extraordinary ability and discipline, earning her the admiration of her competitors and the audience. With absolute determination and unwavering focus, Mahajan dominated her weight class, demonstrating her exceptional strength and technique. Despite society's stereotypes and prejudices against women athletes in strength-based sports, she remained undeterred, breaking down barriers and proving that gender is not a limiting factor when pursuing your passion. Her win is a reminder that hard work, dedication and self-belief can motivate individuals to achieve greatness, regardless of gender or societal expectations. When asked about her success, Riya Mahajan expressed her gratitude to her coaches, family and fans who have supported her throughout her journey. She emphasizes the importance of perseverance and encourages young girls to follow their dreams without fear, regardless of the obstacles they may face. Mahajan's outstanding performance at the National Power Lifting Championship has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the sports community. Mahajan is pursuing her Master's from Jammu University and started powerlifting in 2018 and has been training under the guidance of her coach. Riya Mahajan said, "I am very happy to have won medals for my Jammu and Kashmir Union territory. I want to inspire other girls to take up powerlifting. It is a great sport and it can help you build strength and confidence." Her success has inspired other girls in Jammu and Kashmir to take up powerlifting. She is now seeking help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the promotion of powerlifting in India so that more girls can take up the sport. She also said the government of J&K should promote and give all facilities to the powerlifting athletes as other sportspersons got."I hope that the government will promote powerlifting in Jammu and Kashmir so that more girls can take up the sport," she said. "I want to see a day when powerlifting is as popular among girls as it is among boys." "If I can do then anybody can do that and this would increase self-confidence. My family supports me a lot and they allowed me to go outside and perform in the national championship," she added. She also urged that powerlifting should be introduced in the Olympics and Khelo India so that Powerlifting athletes get proper financial help. She said that sports increase self-confidence and physical fitness. She added that her coach supports her a lot and due to the efforts of her coach, she performed well in the National Championship of Powerlifting. She further added that her guru played an important role in her life. Riya Mahajan has become a role model for all girls in Jammu and Kashmir as she has shown that it is possible to excel in both academics and sports together. She is an inspiration to all girls who dream of achieving their goals.

Arunachal Pradesh won 10 medals – six gold, one silver and three bronze – in the 1st Khelo India Women’s Senior National Wushu League, which was held at Chandigarh University from 23-27 January. Arunachal, with five gold medals and three bronze medals, emerged the overall team champion in the Taolu event. Nyeman Wangsu won the gold medal in the Changquan style of Taolu, while Mepung Lamgu won a gold medal each in Taichiquan and Taijijian. Mercy Ngaimong also won a gold medal each in Jianshu and Qianshu. While Realu Boo won the bronze medal in Taijijian, Yorna Rosni bagged a bronze medal each in Nanquan and Nandao. In Sanda, Onilu Tega won the gold medal in the below 52 kg category, while Gyamar Yatup won the silver in the below 48 kg category. Kishen Chetia and Likha Tadh were the coach and manager of the team. The wushu players were accorded a warm welcome on their arrival in Naharlagun on Monday by the All Arunachal Pradesh Wushu Association, led by its president Tach Tadar, general secretary Abo Lukham and treasurer Taring Liyak.

Girls of Jammu and Kashmir are setting new goals by participating in sports and winning medals for India. It is quite a common sight in the Kashmir valley to see girls practicing during early mornings and evenings. On conversing with Bilquis Mir, an international mentor for Water Sports who hails from the midtown area of Srinagar, said that a tough lady isn’t one who doesn’t cry, a resilient lady is the person who cries, battles and gets up once more. She accepted that Kashmiri young women have a huge potential to contend in whatever field they are dedicated themselves to. Jabeena Akhter, who won a bronze for the country in April last year in Wushu, shared difficulties athletes have to deal with. During her training, she had to walk many kilometres at an hour of turmoil when there was no vehicle on the street. She said that she couldn’t even realize that she had covered so much distance to reach the practice session because of the passion towards her game. 23-year-old Sheikh Sajida, a senior rugby player, recalled the hardships that she faced in the morning practice session during the 2016 unrest and said that she used to go to the polo ground that is situated in the heart of the city, Lal chowk and she could hardly see any civilians on the streets. She used to go to the field on my bicycle and used to bump into the army men on the roads. There are associations and trainees who work with the players but these international women players who have fulfilled their dreams by reaching the highest level have set up their respective academies and given full support and training to the upcoming players from the state. According to the statistics provided by Youth Services and Sports, there has been a considerable increase in the participation of women in different games. In 2016 unrest, the total number of women that participated at different levels was 6,886 by December 31, 2017. In 2017, the total number of women that participated was 7,724 till November 30. An official from Youth Services and Sports said that the 2016 unrest hardly affected the participation in the national games. They had sent the same number of women teams outside that they used to in previous years. Mir, who had started the Water Sports Academy in 2008, has seen a tremendous increase in the number of girls from 3 to 200 in 2017 and she feels extremely happy about it. She said that he trains my players for the international level so that they win their national-level medals at a minimum. Sajida, who also runs rugby classes at the University of Kashmir, trains players of both genders of all age groups. Girl participation in her classes has also increased from 11 to 80 players this year. She gets immense happiness while seeing them getting trained and I do it free of cost. Akhter also runs an academy in Baramulla which she started in 2008. She has set up many Wucho clubs in different areas of the district. Every year 30 students from her academy participate in the state championship. She said that in every club under my academy, at least 35 players are getting trained. Not only in Rugby, Wushu, water sports, but also cricket, football, badminton and basketball are areas where girls are showing their mettle. Unjuman Farooq, 26, has been the first woman from India to bring the gold medal to the country in the senior category at the international Thang Ta Martial Arts championship held at Imphal, Manipur in 2011. She has participated in 16 nationals including three Federation Cups and considers her father as her role model. She is also looking forward to achieving the status of being a Black Belt this year. South Kashmir’s Anantnag district which is mainly affected by the conflict has produced a cricket player Rubaiya Syed who recently played for the north zone women’s team in an inter-zone tournament organized by BCCI in Mumbai. She has also played in the Ranji Trophy. Jammu & Kashmir Football Association (JKFA) has sent it’s first-ever girls team to participate in the 6th National under 15 championships this year. Arifa Bilal is the first female from Jammu and Kashmir who won a gold medal in powerlifting. Apart from being the first female powerlifter gold medalist at the National level, Arifa has also won three more gold medals. Two Sisters Sofi Sheerana and Sofi Sharmeen from Ganderbal fetched gold medals at the National as well as on state levels. Both the sisters are proud students of Thai Boxing iron fist academy and are promoting self-defence for girls in letter and spirit. It is pertinent to mention that Jammu and Kashmir Youth Development Forum is a non-governmental organization which is functional in Kashmir for decades. The organization always stands active to work for the cause of National integration despite facing a number of threat warnings. The said organization focused on strengthening the National interests in Kashmir and nowadays the organization is actively working for the empowerment of women in Kashmir. All the above-quoted girls were time and again promoted, helped and felicitated by the Jammu and Kashmir Youth development forum with the motive to empower them and attract more and more girls towards the mainstream in Kashmir. The recently issued order by the lieutenant governor’s administration of Jammu and Kashmir making sports personnel qualified for occupations is clearly going to focus on the choice of young women for various posts and their change will rouse different young ladies to partake in the sports and mainstream activities. Source: Daily Sikh

Miscreants have set fire at the office room of Kalsindur High School and College at Dhobaura upazila under Mymensingh district. The school is famous for female footballers. Valuable papers of the school and the certificates and medals of female footballers were gutted. Officer in Charge of Dhobaura police station Ali Ahmed Mollah said, the incident of fire took place between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Some valuable papers and certificates were burnt in the fire. A General Diary (GD) has been filed on behalf of the school authority. Necessary action will be taken. In this regard acting principal of Kalsindur School and College Ratan Mia said, though the school was closed due to Ramadan but mathematics department’s classes are going on. On Tuesday when a teacher named Ujjal arrived at the school he found the lock of office room broken and smoke there. Later when we went there we found that certificates of the school teachers, certificates of the girls, medals, resolution book, technical department’s papers and other valuable papers were burnt. The miscreants also took away one pendrive. He also said, there were certificates and medals of female footballers at the office room. Of those the certificates and medals of successful player Shamsunnahar, Rozina and Sajeda were burnt. AH