This year I’m looking forward to winning the Asian Championship Beirut, Lebanon and World Championship Denmark,” says the confident 24-year-old Shilpa Thapa, a Taekwondo Poomsae Player, under 30 age category. For the Vasant Vihar resident, the genesis of her love for this traditional Korean martial art form goes back to when she was just four years old. “My father, a taekwondo master, introduced me to this martial art.
I continued practising till 2009 but left it to pursue my passion, breakdancing, for the next five years. As fate had it, my taekwondo master came to Delhi to form an Indian demonstration team. At first, I was reluctant to join his classes but then I started following the Korean Tigers, one of the world’s leading taekwondo demonstration teams. I was inspired by one of the team members and wanted to become like her.”
Thapa then went back to pursuing taekwondo. She initially started with demonstration classes, and in 2018, represented India in Asian Games. Post the game, her zeal to win only grew. “The moment I realised that I was not just representing me but the entire nation, I knew I couldn’t stop here. I want to be the first Indian woman to win gold on the international front,” says Thapa.
With eight hours of rigorous training at the Korean Cultural Centre, Thapa is left with no time for studies, family, and friends or for herself. But all hell broke loose when she got injured while training with an MCL injury (tear to the medial collateral ligament) in March last year. “I was out of training for six long months and was on the verge of giving up. But my passion and my master’s encouragement helped me pass this depressing phase of my life. I worked day and night on my strength and conditioning training before my proper training started. The hardest part was to start from square one and reach the level I once was.” Overcoming her fears, she went on to win the silver medal in South Asian Games the same year.
Today, along with training for the forthcoming Asian Championship, Thapa is pursuing BA Programme from Amritsar University. If she is able to procure enough funds, she will also participate in ranking competitions. “The biggest challenge is getting funds. My teammates from Assam and Haryana receive funds but the ones who are from Delhi don’t.
Also, coming from a weak financial background, we don’t have the money to fund our travels, diet and training,” shares Thapa, who refuses to ask her parents to help. Her brother chips in and she teaches eight Taekwondo classes a month. However, with winter vacations and children preparing for their examinations, she has no classes to teach. Thapa hopes they will resume the classes in May but till then her only source of income is closed. “I strongly feel that the government should support us as we are representing the country,” Thapa laments.
International Achievements
Category: Pair Poomsae
(Under 23 Age)
Medal: Silver
Event: 13th South Asian Games Kathmandu Nepal-2019
Category: Female Team Poomsae (Under-23 Age)
Medal: Silver
Event: 13th South Asian Games Kathmandu Nepal-2019
Category: Female Team Poomsae
Medal: Silver
Event: Asian Games Invitational Tournament-2018
Category: Female New Poomsae (Under-30 Age)
Medal: Rank-8
Event: Asian Championship Vietnam-2018