Taekwondo champion from Baramulla appointed ambassador of Fit India Movement

Danish Manzoor was the first from north Kashmir to ever qualify for the official Junior Nationals in Taekwondo and it's still a record as no one has ever qualified for the same.

Baramulla(J&K): Danish Manzoor, a 25-year-old Taekwondo Champion from Baramulla, has been appointed as the ambassador of the Fit India Movement. A resident of the Gulshan Abad Colony in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, Danish has brought laurels to the Valley in the past. He now aims at representing India at Olympic Games and is further honing his skills in the martial art form.

In his nine years of Taekwondo career, Manzoor has won several medals. In 2016, he won a silver medal in the Mahaveer National Taekwondo Championship organised by the Taekwondo Federation of India in Rajasthan and a silver medal in the Tokey Memorial National Taekwondo Championship held in Punjab's Ropar. He has also been declared the male best player in the tournament.

Moreover, he is the first state representative of Jammu and Kashmir to have participated in the Asian Indoor Games trials held at the Sports Authority of Aurangabad. Danish Manzoor was among the top 20 players across the world in the first-ever International Online European Taekwondo Poomsae Championship 2020.

He made his team India debut in the 2nd India Open International Olympic Ranking Taekwondo Championship. He was recommended by J&K Taekwondo Association as a potential player to participate in the first ever Olympic level camp under the guidance of the world's number one Olympic level coach Paul Green from Great Britain.

Danish Manzoor was the first Taekwondo player from north Kashmir to ever qualify for the official Junior Nationals in Taekwondo and it's still a record as no one has ever qualified for the same. It was 2013 when Danish secured a gold medal in the official State Taekwondo Championship and qualified for Junior National held at Puducherry. He never looked back thereafter and continued his winning streak in this sport.

He represented Indian Taekwondo Team in the Men's 58 weight category at Ramla Israel in Israel Open G2 Olympic ranking Taekwondo event and was sponsored by the Help Foundation, a J&K-based NGO. The championship was an official International Olympic ranking G2 Championship organised by Israel Taekwondo Federation where players from around 30 plus countries participated.

Manzoor is currently training under Master Atul Pangotra and eying for the 2024 Olympics. Asked what message he wants to give to today's youth, Danish said that the youth should prioritise their involvement in some kind of sport if they want their mental and physical stability to be in synchronisation.