HYDERABAD: 23-year-old B Sai Deepak is standing at the crossroads today. He has a lucrative bank job waiting for him, but his heart lies in his passion – Taekwondo. This Hyderabad boy, who won bronze at the Malaysian Open in 2018 and gold in the Indo-Korea Taekwondo championship, also created a Guinness World Record this year. He holds the record for making 87 one leg, full contact knee strikes wearing 5 kg ankle weights in three minutes. His dream is to compete in the 2024 Olympics.
“Not many know that Taekwondo is an Olympic sport, and awareness about it very low among the youth. This is why it is difficult to find sponsors. Every sportsman needs sponsors to keep playing International championships in order to improve his/her Olympic rankings. There is no publicity around Taekwondo like it is there in case of cricket or badminton. In fact, my coaches are mulling starting something on the lines of IPL for Taekwondo. In the meantime, I have taken it upon myself to popularise the sport as much as I can,” says this Yousufguda resident.
Deepak has two more Guinness World records to his credit. “I hold the records for the ‘most full contact elbow strikes in one minute’ (142 alternate elbow strikes) and the most ‘full contact knee strikes in three minutes with one leg’ (175 knee strikes).” He has dedicated these feats to the soldiers who lay down their lives for the country, and also wants to promote the Fit India Movement through them. So how did it all start for the serial record holder?
“The love for martial arts was instilled in me by my father who was Bruce Lee’s fan. I got a head start in the field when I started learning karate in school. After Abhinav Bindra won a gold medal in shooting in the 2008 Olympics, I was inspired to achieve a similar feat in martial arts. In my search for the right sport to play, I met Master Moinuddin and Grandmaster M Jayanth Reddy. My coaches, along with mentor Ashish Taneja, are responsible for steering my capabilities in the right direction,” shares Deepak.
This is not the first time that the Taekwondo champ is contemplating saying no to the corporate world. “I got a job in Google after completing my BTech, but I left it to pursue my passion. The same college offered me an MBA course free of cost, and I completed it this year,” he says. While he dreams about the Olympics, Deepak is training four hours a day and chasing other world records.