Azmat Bibi, who hails from far-flung area of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, has won a bronze medal in 55kgs category at the ninth Commonwealth Karate Championships held in South Africa. The tournament took place in Durban from November 29 to December 2. Apart from Azmat, Poonam Salathia, who is also from Jammu, won a bronze medal in Senior women team Kumite as well. Interestingly, for the first time, women Karate players from J&K have won medals at an international level.

While Poonam’s medal came in a senior event, Azmat bagged the bronze in under-21 individual Kumite 55kg weight category, reported Daily Excelsior. Devesh Mahajan, Katyayni, Rajat Singh, Abhijeet Singh, and Sahil Singh were the other participants from J&K.

Meanwhile, Azmat said that due to the support from parents and coach she was able to win the medal. The 21-year-old also added that in a border area it is very difficult for her to train. "This is a border area, training here is very difficult. With the support of my parents & coach I felt I could get a medal & won it,” Azmat told ANI.

Also, in a moment of pride for J&K, state’s Ambedkar Gupta coached the Indian National Team during the tournament. At the ninth Commonwealth Karate Championships India finished as runners-up after clinching the second highest number of gold medals in the Championship.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 09, 2018 10:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).