In a major sporting achievement for the state of Karnataka, Sejal Gulia, who originally hails from Jhajjar in Haryana but is now representing Karnataka in fencing, has secured two gold medals in the prestigious 4th Children Cup and 10th Mini National Fencing Championship which took place at Maharashtra Divisional Sports Complex, Panchvati, Nashik from August 6 to 8th.
The young girl secured her medals in both the individual and team events of the tournament, in the girls Epee (U-12) category. Her incredible performance, which was a combination of precision, concentration, quickness and sharpness proved too hot to handle for her opponents from various states of India. Her mentors and well-wishers are confident of a successful future for him and foresee more successes for the young lady.
For a long time, Haryana has been the most fertile state for the country in terms of sporting success. But fencing isn't a discipline where much headway has been made, whether in Haryana or any other part of the country.
With its high-quality infrastructure and a supportive environment for a large variety of sports, Karnataka has become a popular destination for sportspersons to train and improve their performances. It seems that Sejal is certainly making full use of this opportunity and charting her path towards that type of success in fencing which has eluded the country.
But the province which again managed to prove its superiority in sports to others was Manipur. The North-Eastern province led the medals tally with three golds, seven silvers and four bronze medals.
Thanks to the efforts of Gulia, Karnataka were the runners-up in the overall medals tally. Now the question remains, can she make the next big step and achieve similar success in the senior age group. If she does, a new sporting star from India will be born. But those goals are still a long way away!
