Vivek Shamra
New Delhi:In a remarkable achievement for Korean Cultural Centre India,six of its students have been selected to join the Indian national team.
This team is set to compete in the esteemed Asian Taekwondo Championships,which will commence on May 14th in the port city of Da Nang in Vietnam.
Additionally,one of the coaches for the Indian national team in this tournament is Mr.Lee Wanyong,who is the Taekwondo instructor at Korean Cultural Centre India.
Six participating students of KCCI are Avinash Kumar Sahni,Anurag Yadav,Shilpa Thapa,Harshvardhan Gurung,Kunnal Kumar and Ritika Negi.The athletes will compete in two categories – poomsae and kyorugi.
This achievement has been made possible due to the constant efforts of the Korean Cultural Centre India to promote Taekwondo in India since its inception in 2013.
Further in a significant step to encourage more Indian students to take up Taekwondo, Korean Cultural Centre India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with India Taekwondo,the governing body of Taekwondo sports in India.
The MOU was signed in New Delhi between the Director of Korean Cultural Centre India,Mr.Hwang Il Yong and the President of India Taekwondo,Mr.Namdev Sampat Shirgaonkar.
As part of this agreement,India Taekwondo and Korean Cultural Centre India will together organise joint educational activities,especially the projects including Taekwondo training,Taekwondo competitions, Taekwondo training camps,Korean Cultural Taekwondo Tour and training programs for participation in national and international events.
These activities will further enhance the skillset and the confidence of the students engaged in the martial art and will inspire them to represent India in the sport in the future.
India Taekwondo is the governing body of Taekwondo in India. It is also a member of World Taekwondo and Asian Taekwondo (WT Asia).
Hwang Il Yong,Director of Korean Cultural Centre India said, “We will continue to strive for the steady growth of Taekwondo in India.
The Taekwondo classes and Taekwondo elite training programs in schools will not only provide students with an opportunity to experience Korean culture,but also be a starting point for raising aspirations for a new future.”
Namdev Sampat Shirgaonkar,President of India Taekwondo said,“As the president of India Taekwondo, I am very happy to sign this MOU.
Korea is the birthplace of Taekwondo and it is an honour for us to develop Taekwondo in India along with the Korean Cultural Centre India.
Through this initiative,India Taekwondo and Korean Cultural Centre India together hope to reach out to more Taekwondo athletes in India and our aim is to further develop the sport in the country.”
Taekwondo in India has experienced significant growth and success with many practitioners and notable achievements in national and international competitions.
Since 2021,the Korean Cultural Centre India has also been supporting Taekwondo classes in Indian schools.
Presently,there are 3,662 students learning Taekwondo in 46 secondary schools in India.
This number is more than double the number of 1,530 students who had enrolled in Taekwondo classes in 2023.
Additionally,this year,the Korean Cultural Centre India will work with local Taekwondo associations in the country to impart skill improvement training sessions for local instructors.
This will further enable more schools in the country to introduce Taekwondo to their students in the future.
