Players of the District Taekwondo Academy, Ganjam, get felicitated in Berhampur on Monday. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Nov. 28: Six members of the District Taekwondo Academy, Ganjam, which is located in Berhampur, have bagged six medals in the 11th State Taekwondo Championship.

The winners, who won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal, were accorded a warm welcome when they reached Berhampur railway station by Prasanti Express today.

Ambika Prasad Das, coach at the taekwondo academy, who trained all the winners, expressed happiness over their success. “Our boys are very talented and aggressive. Though the popularity of taekwondo is yet to pick up in Berhampur and other parts of southern Odisha, our boys have excelled despite practising for a short time. They were the attractions at the tournament,” said Das.

The championship was held at Betanati in Mayurbhanj district from November 25 to 27.

Seven boys from the District Taekwondo Academy, Ganjam, took part in the event and six of them won, the coach said.

While P. Madhusudan Rao (bantom category), Swagat Das (sub-junior) and Soumyashree Sahu (junior) won gold medals, Jines Das (lightweight category) and Hritik Mishra (junior heavyweight) won silver. Baibhav Singhari (sub-junior light heavyweight) won the bronze medal.

“I train my students on the premises of St Vincent Convent School here with their permission. The school authorities have permitted me because most of my students also study in the same school,” Das said.

The contestants reached St Vincent Convent School from the railway station in a big procession.

While the winners mounted on an open jeep, the proud parents, students of the school and others accompanied them, sources said.

“It was the first time I took part in such a big event. Earlier, I did not have any idea about the championship and I was nervous at the beginning. But I tried to strengthen my position in the subsequent bouts. I am now eligible to participate in the National Taekwondo Championship and would definitely perform better there,” Jines Das, who won the silver medal in lightweight category, said.

“My son is always very aggressive and I hope he will do better in taekwondo,” said Jines’s father Jyoti Ranjan Das.