Srinagar

Afreen Hyder, an international Taekwondo player from Kashmir, wants to represent India in Olympics. 

Hyder returned home after giving a good performance at a Taekwondo Grand Prix event in South Korea recently.

She is the first Taekwondo player from Jammu and Kashmir to win a medal in the junior category at the Nationals.

Her Taekwondo journey started in school.

"I never thought of pursuing it professionally. I saw children training in Taekwondo in school and thought it was cool. So I decided to train too. This sport is now my passion," Hyder told a news agency.

In 2014, Hyder shifted from Srinagar to Jammu. After completing her schooling in Srinagar she decided to pursue Taekwondo as a full-time athlete.

Three years later in 2017 she was selected to represent India at a championship in Nepal where she won a bronzed medal for the country.

Hyder also expressed gratitude to her coach Atul Pangotra. "In Jammu, Atul sir taught me a lot. Later, I got my training for a year in one of the best academies in Bhopal. Currently, I am training in Gurugram, which also has one of the finest academies of India," she added.

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Currently ranked 91 in the world Hyder is training for the World Championship and Asian Games. But her eventual goal is to represent India at the 2024 Paris Olympics.