Indian Muslim schoolgirl wins two taekwondo medals in South Korea
Mumbai teenager Rania Rizwan Ansari won silver and bronze in two taekwondo disciplines, marking international breakthrough after years of training that began in primary school
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — An Indian Muslim schoolgirl has won two medals at an international taekwondo event in South Korea, securing podium finishes in both combat and technical disciplines at the 19th World Taekwondo Culture Expo.
Rania Rizwan Ansari, a 10th-grade student from Mumbai, won silver in Kyorugi and bronze in Poomsae at the competition held at Taekwondowon in Muju County, one of South Korea’s major centers dedicated to the martial art.
According to the Urdu daily Inquilab, Ansari represented Mumbai’s Jalna Wala Sports Training and Research Centre at the international event, where her two medals marked the latest milestone in a sporting journey that began when she was in first grade.
Kyorugi is the full-contact competitive form of taekwondo familiar from international tournaments, in which two athletes fight for points using regulated kicking and punching techniques. Poomsae, by contrast, tests an athlete’s precision, balance and technical control through predetermined sequences of movements.
Winning medals across both categories demonstrates proficiency in two substantially different aspects of the Korean martial art — competitive fighting as well as the technical execution underpinning it.
Ansari studies at St. Joseph English High School in Mumbai and has continued intensive taekwondo training alongside her education. She trains under coach Rohidas Shirke and has gradually progressed from local competitions to competing internationally.
Her success in South Korea builds on an emerging record in the sport. In 2023, Ansari won gold at a District Sports Office competition in the western Indian state of Goa, giving her competitive experience before moving onto the international stage.
Her latest achievement is particularly notable within India, where girls’ participation in organized sport continues to confront social and economic barriers, while access to professional coaching and international competition can be especially difficult for athletes emerging outside established elite sporting systems.
For Ansari, the South Korean competition represented a considerably larger stage. Traveling to the country where taekwondo originated placed the Mumbai teenager alongside international competitors while requiring her to perform in two different disciplines.
Her school has since congratulated Ansari and her coach on the achievement.
The silver and bronze medals give the young athlete her first major international success and represent another step in a career that has developed over nearly a decade — from beginning taekwondo as a primary-school student in Mumbai to reaching the podium in South Korea.
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