Sikkim martial artists win 4 medals for India at Commonwealth Taekwondo Championship

Ugen Gurung, Trilok Subba and Savitri Pradhan

Naksum Bhutia

GANGTOK, 03 Feb: Martial artists from Sikkim are coming of age. Four players of the Sikkim Amateur Taekwondo Association who were selected to play for India at the 5th Commonwealth Taekwondo Championship, held at the Indoor Stadium, Chennai, from 28 to 31 Jan, fought their hearts out for the country, and in a welcome feat, each one of them bagged a medal!
Ugen Gurung, a 2nd Dan Black Belt, the son of MB Gurung and Pranita Lepcha and a student of Holy Cross School, won a gold medal in the Junior Individual Poomsae category, defeating martial artists from Singapore, England, Australia, New Zealand and other countries to make the nation and Sikkim proud.
Trilok Subba, the SATA chief coach and a 6th Dan black belt, son of PL Subba and Renu Leena Subba, and Savitri Pradhan, a 4th Dan black belt of Sikkim Police, won the bronze medal in the Senior Division Taekwondo Poomsae event. In this category, Australia won the gold, England the silver, and India (Trilok and Savitri) the bronze medal along with Scotland.
Similarly, Naksum Bhutia of Linkey, a 1st Dan black belt, the daughter of Karma Bhutia and a student of Dikiling Senior Secondary School at Pakyong, won a bronze medal in the Kheorugi event.
Delighted with the performance of the SATA quartet in the national team, the SATA president, YB Thapa, joined all executive and general members of the association to congratulate the players on their achievement, conveys a press release issued by the SATA joint secretary Rajen Subba. [both photos courtesy SATA]