Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, Nov 01: Aqsa Gulzar, an athlete, who represented Jammu and Kashmir on different national and international platforms, has made the entire Union Territory proud as she won a ‘Gold Medal’ in the recently held 37th National Games in Goa.
Aqsa, a 19-year-old talented athlete, hailing from Nowshera area of Srinagar, has been in the field of sports for the last seven years. As a female athlete, her journey has been challenging and inspirational.
While speaking and sharing her achievements with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Aqsa said, “I have worked very hard for my career, and my inspiration is my father, and all I wanted is to make my family proud as they have seen a lot and have supported me at every step of mine.”
“My father is also an ex-sportsman, and he knows the struggles an athlete has to face while pursuing his/her dreams. He, along with my other family members, has supported me wholeheartedly,” said Aqsa, adding, “I have two more sister, a father, and a mother back at home, who are very supportive, and I wanted to make them all proud.”
Regarding her achievements, Aqsa further highlighted, “besides the recent Gold medal in the 37th National Games held in Goa, I have also won a bronze medal in the 19th World Championship in Malaysia, a Gold Medal at the Asian Championship, a Bronze Medal at the Senior National 2022, a Gold Medal at the 6th Federation Cup in Goa, and a Gold Medal at the 11th Senior National 2023 held between August 12 and 15 in Nasik, Maharashtra.”
When asked about how it feels being a female athlete in the Kashmir, Aqsa said that, “being an athlete means so much; it means the willingness to train hard, wanting to grow with my team and coaches to be the best I can be, with a message that it’s wrong to think that girls do not need to play sports, as we also need to keep ourselves safe, and sports help with that a lot.”
Pertinently, Aqsa was also praised by the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, when she showed a spectacular performance in the world Pencak Silat championship—(KNO)
