“Bagging medals but not facilities”- MS Taekwondo Academy
M.S Taekwondo Academy, from Gangtok recently bagged 7 Gold 4 Silver and 4 Bronze medal in 1st National Kyorugi Taekwondo championship and 2nd National Poomsae Taekwondo championship held at the R.K.S.P School , Darjeeling from 9th to 11th September 2022.
What is amazing is that the academy achieved this feat devoid of any proper practicing area or training facilities. The club of Taekwondo fighters “practice at Palzor Stadium Galleries and if they’re shooed away, they do that in other open areas, and have been hopping from different locations to facilitate their training,” informed the head of the academy, Master Sabina Sundas [4th Dan and also a Master degree holder from South Korea Kukkiwon Headquarter].
Even with little to no facilities, shortage of capital and a plethora of obstacles, the academy managed to bag a bag worth of medals and prizes. “We the member of M.S Taekwondo Academy would like to thank Master Dawa Tamang SATA President as wherever I stand It’s all cause of you, really Thankful for making me who I am today .We would thank Shree Ajoy Edward for giving us your precious time, encouraging and treating us so well . We are also Thankful to Poonam Lepcha for providing us Fooding and lodging for 4 days .We Appriciate each and everyone who have encouraged and supported the team,” the academy said.
The list if trophies and medals that the academy bagged are as follows:
Best Discipline Trophy (M.S.TAEKWONDO ACADEMY)
Gold Medals – 7 : Sub Jr Boys (Benjamin Rai Under 18kg, Sanskar Subba Under 25kg, Abhigya Sunam Under 50kg); Sub Jr Girls (Rejina Thapa Under 25kg); Cadet Girls (Yangchen Sherpa Under 47kg); Junior Girls (Pushpanjali Gurung U-49kg, Diya Sharma Under 59kg)
Silver Medals- 4: Cadet Boys (Devyam Tamang Under 37kg) Junior Girls (Gunjan Rai Under 55kg); Senior Girls (Pratikcha Thapa Under 46kg, Kritika Dhakal Under 49kg)
Bronze Medals- 4: Cadet Girls (Simran Pradhan under 55kg); Junior Boys (Tenzing Dorjee Tamang Under 45kg); Junior Girls(Aakriti Rai Under 44kg); Senior boy (Anil Balmiki Under 63kg)
Despite the challenges the coach Sabina Sundas and her team were able to bring in many accolades, the latest being the 15 national medals that the academy bagged for the state.
Sabina Sundas, who is a 4th dan Black bel holder in Taekwondo and has an extensive training and course certificate under her black belt, a substantial amount of state, national, international medals, and a plethora of accolades that she has won, says that it is hard for her and other private outfits of academies who have been struggling to participate in the tournaments that come their way.
Here is the lost of courses and training that Sundas has completed:
- INDIA CAMP 2006 AT VISHAKHAPATNAM FOR JUNIOR WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP – (ENGLAND). - INDIA CAMP 2007 AT MADHYA PRADESH FOR IRANI CUP.
- INDIA CAMP 2008 AT BANGLORE FOR JUNIOR WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP (RUSSIA). - INDIA CAMP 2008 AT KERALA FOR SOUTH ASIAN GAMES & JUNIOR WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP. - INDIA CAMP 2009 AT PUNE FOR 11TH SAF GAMES IN DHAKA,
(BANGLADESH & WTF WORLD QUALIFICATON TOURNAMENT FOR 2010
YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES. - INDIA CAMP 2010 AT PUNE FOR 19TH ASIAN SENIOR
TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP (ASTHANA, KHAZAKISTHAN). - INDIA CAMP 2011 AT SIKKIM FOR 1ST MOUNT EVEREST INTERNATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP (NEPAL). - PARTICIPATED IN TAEKWONDO INSTRUCTOR SEMINAR 2020.
- 86TH INTERNATIONAL MASTER COURSE BY THE KUKKIWON – ORGANISED
BY WORLD TAEKWONDO ACADEMY (SOUTH KOREA) – 2022. - 40TH TAEKWONDO POOM DAN PROMOTION EXAMINER COURSE –
ORGANISED BY WORLD TAEKWONDO ACADEMY (SOUTH KOREA) – 2022.
Sundas has also represented the state as a coach in the following tournaments:
• XVII ALL BODOLAND TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP, ASSAM – 2010.
• 4TH NATIONAL LEVEL RURAL TOURNAMENT, WEST BENGAL – 2011.
• 34TH SENIOR & 35TH JUNIOR NATIONAL KYORUGI TAEKWONDO
CHAMPIONSHIP, ODISHA – 2015.
• 37TH JUNIOR TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP, CHHATTISGARH – 2017.
• 3RD CADET TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP, UTTAR PRADESH – 2017.
• 3RD KUKKIWON CUP HANMADANG INTERNATIONAL TAEKWONDO
CHAMPIONSHIP, INDIA – 2019.
• KIMUNYONG OPEN TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP, INDIA – 2019.
• OPEN NATIONAL KYORUGI & POOMSAE TAEKWONDO
CHAMPIONSHIP, WEST BENGAL – 2019.
• 1ST TSA OPEN NATIONAL TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP,
RAJASTHAN – 2020.
• IDSO INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP,
INDIA – 2021.
• 2021 YOUTH CUP “ONLINE OPEN NATIONAL TAEKWONDO POOMSAE
& SPEED KICKING CHAMPIONSHIPS”, DELHI – 2021.
• PRIDE CUP “ONLINE OPEN NATIONAL TAEKWONDO POOMSAE &
SPEED KICKING CHAMPIONSHIPS”, DELHI – 2021.
Sundas has over 25 national medals and 4 international medals that range from Gold to Bronze; she also has the following awards and accolades:
• 1ST WORLD UNITED TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARDED
BEST FIGHTER IN THE YEAR 2005 (DARJEELING).
• 1ST DARJEELING INVITATION TAEKWONDO
CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDED BEST FIGHTER IN THE YEAR 2006
(DARJEELING).
• APPRECIATION CERTIFICATE FROM ALL SIKKIM SCHEDULED
CASTES WELFARE ASSOCIATION, SIKKIM FOR OUTSTANDING
PERFORMANCE AND EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS. AWARDED ON 14TH
OF APRIL 2011 ON THE AUSPICIOUS OF 120TH BIRTH
ANNIVERSARY OF BHARAT RATNA Dr. B.R. AMBEDKAR.
• CERTIFICATE OF HONOUR FROM INDIA SPORTS SANGH FOR
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN INTERNATIONAL AND
NATIONAL LEVEL TAEKWONDO COMPETITIONS IN THE YEAR
2017.
• APPRECIATION CERTIFICATE FROM INDIA SPORTS SANGH FOR
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AND PARTICIPATION IN
NATION
“When my father expired, I couldn’t continue my taekwondo career as a fighter because there wasn’t any bread earner in my family, so I started MS Taekwondo Academy in the name of my late father Masiney Sundas,” Sabina told Sikkim Chronicle.
There are over 25 students in the academy and the number of students keep fluctuating, but Sundas says that if they did have a proper indoor facility they could have even more students. The academy has tried and failed in trying to allot a training space and say that it is hard for academies like them to make their pleas heard to the higher authorities.
“Sometimes we practice outside Palzor Statdium and if we are shooed from there, we do the training at roads and we keep getting shooed from here and there, sometimes at Palzor and sometimes in High Secondary ground area, but we keep training.”
“We tried applying for a space in the abandoned areas at Palzor Stadium but we were denied in our application saying that this is a government property and can’t allocate the area to you. Private academies are hardly given any support, but I have hope in the present government since they are doing so much for the sport sector,” Sundas said.
Sundas also informed that there is very little scope for taekwondo fighters who want to participate in big competitions due to the lack of money and also because of the incomprehension of Taekwondo Associations in Sikkim.
“I was fortunate that because of my coach I could compete for many competitions without payment, because you need to pay (some amount) when you participate in competitions and tournaments but not everyone is that fortunate, and in contemporary times only those who have finance are being able to participate,” Sundas said.
She further added, “There are many skilled athletes who don’t have a good financial background but have the potential to achieve a lot, but aren’t getting the platforms they require due to their financial handicap, maybe this can be rectified by the associations.”
Speaking about how to move forward as a state in the field of Taekwondo Sundas said, “I think we should first analyse what kinds of facilities Taekwondo athletes are getting in the state and what is the condition outside the state. There are many facilities that are lacking in the state still, and I think the guardians of athletes and the association in Sikkim Should work in tandem, so the voices of all the taekwondo outfits, be it government or private should be heard and the medals keep flowing into the state.”
Sundas also said that she has given up on trying to apply for facilities since her and clubs like hers have been shunned till date, but the dedication of sports person like her and her academy students are only getting stronger and their resolves getting even more solidified as their medal tally evidently shows.
“Why we need a indoor facility is because first of all Taekwondo is an indoor sport and it is incumbent for athletes to train inside so we get an uninterrupted environment, but even after trying for many years and sending applications, it seems like our voices never reach the cmpetent authorities,” Sundas said.
Speaking about the importance of taekwondo and sports in general, Sundas says, “
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