Swat
Pakistan’s youngest female athlete in Taekwondo has won a gold medal in 34kg category at the 8th Fujairah Open Taekwondo Championship in Dubai.
Ayesha Ayaz, a nine-year-old student of Class IV from Swat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, started practising the sport at the age of three.
She has already managed to earn honors of being a five-time district champion, two-time provincial champion and three-time national champion. Ayaz Naik, father of Ayesha, is also a Taekwondo athlete and runs his own academy in Swat. Her younger brothers, six-year-old Zaryab Khan has won a gold medal at a national level while five-year-old Zaib Khan honoured with a silver medal.
According to reports, no one from Pakistan has ever participated in Taekwondo Olympics competition so far. People of Swat are expressing their joy over Ayesha’s iconic victory, calling it an example for other young children. In February last year, the young girl from Mingora had already brought home a bronze medal in 27kg category of the 7th Fujairah Open Taekwondo Championship held at the United Arab Emirates Sports Complex.—Agencies
