Meet young athlete Ronak Riyaz from Sopore

Javaid Lone

Srinagar: Ronak Riyaz, a 16-year-old young girl is an athlete hailing from Magraypora village in Sopore town in Baramulla district in North Kashmir.

She completed her matriculation from SRM Welkin School in Sopore and is currently studying in Class 11th at Govt Girls Higher Secondary School Sopore. She has won many national and international Thang Ta championships.

Ronak started practising the martial arts form with a teacher in her school in 2014. She used to travel with her mother from Sopore to Nowhatta in Srinagar in order to get training in martial arts form thang ta at the Gojwara Club in Nowhatta area in Srinagar

Her mother Hafeeza used to wait whole day till her training classes was over.

Ronak’s mother Hafeeza said, “Her hard work finally paid off in 2018 when she won the fourth International Thang Ta Championship. Her latest win was in August this year when she clinched a gold in the fifth International Thang Ta Championship in South Korea.”

She further said that Ronak is currently a blue belt holder and has a long way to earn a black belt.

As government stresses upon ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, there had been no government support my daughter. “We have been financing her. We had to arrange Rs75,000 entry fee for the South Korea meet in August, when everything was shut. The trip cost us Rs 2,00,000.”

“Girls should learn martial arts for self-defence” adding “many boys and girls meet her and tell her that they too want to practice various martial arts forms.”

“I’m opening my own academy where young athletes will get training without any problem,” Ronak said.