LUDHIANA: An 11-year-old karate player brought laurels to city by winning two gold medals in recently held International Karate Championship in Kolkata.
Last year too, Sehajbir Sing Gill had won a gold medal in the championship.
A Class VI student at Bal Bharti Public School, Sehajbir Singh Gill, son of industrialists Parambir Singh Gill and Gurpreet Kaur, won a gold in regular karate (kumite) in the U-11 category by defeating a player from Bangladesh. He also won gold in kata category wherein multiple players play.
The international championship was organized by All India Seishinkai Shito-Ryu Karate-Do Federation at Kolkata on July 28 and 29 in which players from China, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Iran and India participated.
“It really feels great to win an international event. I am now preparing for the world championship that will be held later this year,” said Sehajbir.
Mother of Sehajbir said he didn’t let the opponents score in the competition in all the three matches. She said Sehajbir had qualified for international event after winning gold in state-level tournament in Amritsar in April this year.
Asked why he chose karate as the main sport, Sehajbir says “I liked the
Karate Kid movie and got fascinated by the sport. So I decided to take up the sport. Some people also call me with the name ‘Karate Kid’. It feels great to be called so”. “I started karate when I was three-and-a-half years old. Initially I got training at the school but later on my coach Jatinder Sen used to train me at home. I took advanced training from Premjit Sen at Kolkata and his juniors Jatinder Sen and M S Bhatti.”
Gurpreet Kaur, mother of Sehajbir who accompanied him in the championship, said, “I am proud of my son’s achievements in the international tournament. He has won many national and international karate championships”.
“He has won the title of the ‘Young Karate player’ by winning Gold medal in National Karate Championship held in Goa in 2013 apart from winning accolade in the world championship in America in July in the same year where he secured fourth position and he has won medals in many competitions during the last many years”.
She thanked the principal of Sehajbir’s school for constant support.
