‘Everyone must learn Taekwondo’

Commonwealth champion Ajay Dalal, 31, has been chosen for Taekwondo selection trials for Tokyo Olympics (to be held later this year), with 4.32 points in the 87+ kg category. The trials will be held in Lucknow from April 15 to 17.

Son of farmer Balwan Singh of Delhi’s Kirari village, Dalal started playing Taekwondo at the age of 10 encouraged by his sports teacher Yaad Ram at the Hansraj Model School in Punjabi Bagh.

“I was a naughty child and was physically more powerful than my classmates. Yaad Ram sir initiated me into Taekwondo so that I could expend my energy in the sport rather than playing pranks,” says Dalal, now a PG in physical education from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana).

The journey that he started in 1999 has not stopped till date. So far, he has represented India over 10 times in international championships, and brought many laurels for the country. Dalal is the first Indian player to represent India in World University Taekwondo Championship, Korea (in 2012) and University Games in Taipei (in 2017).

A Bronze Medal in Taekwondo at the 2010 India Open International Championship, a Gold Medal in Commonwealth Championship (in 2017), a Bronze Medal in Fujairah Open Championship in 2018-19, and Bronze Medal at the Asia Open Championship 2019 are some of his achievements so far. A Taekwondo coach at the Sri Venkateshwar International School (Dwarka), Dalal believes that the sport is also means of self-defense and hence each child should be trained in it .

Excerpts:

How important is regular training?

Disciplined training is very important. I have been training under coach Madan Singh Chauhan since 2005. Prior to that, my coach was Yaad Ram sir (1999-2004). I practice for 7-8 hours a day, which includes physical fitness exercises (two hours), mental conditioning, including meditation and yoga (one hour), main Taekwondo moves (two hours) and two hours of actual fight spread through the day.

Why do we have only a few international-level champs in India?

The government was not very proactive towards Taekwondo earlier – a few competitions were held in the country and players were not allowed to participate in international events. Things changed in 2016 with the government putting a lot of stress on sports – it began holding more competitions and also provided us with the international- level equipment to train, something that was unknown earlier. Now, players also have easy access to sports directors and ministers, unlike earlier, so our grievances are addressed. The doors for participation in international events were opened only in 2016. The results are now improving. I am sure India will produce many world champions in future.

You also set up Aryan’s World academy.

Yes. In 2013, I felt the need to have a place where I could practice for long hours. Most clubs and other academies have time limits. I wanted to train younger kids, and motivate girls too. That’s how Aryan’s Academy first came up in Nangloi. I set it up with my friend Abdul Mobin Khan. Today, it has five centres across India – three in Delhi (Dwarka, Nangloi, Madipur) and one each in UP (at Noida) and Punjab (at Ludhiana). Over 50 students are being trained at each centre.

Any advice for budding players, especially young girls?

Practice with dedication. Inculcate discipline and always have the killer instinct. I feel every girl should learn Taekwondo as it is a selfdefense technique, and gives enough self-confidence in girls.

QUICK TAKES

If not a Taekwondo player?

Definitely a farmer

Your role model?

Bhim Awardee Sandeep Kundu, Asian Games Medalist Surender Bhandari

Your toughest opponent till date?

Robelis Despaigne from Cuba, who I played with at Korea in 2012