Sonepur: Ehsas Hota, 19, the teen from Birmaharajpur of Sonepur district, has won two gold medals at the ongoing World Open Taekwondo Championship being organised at Rupandehi in Nepal.

With this success, Ehsas has qualified to take part in the Asian Games selection trial meet in Thailand towards the end of June. Ehsas, who took part in the 54kg category, outplayed all his opponents to win the gold in the category. He also won the gold in the Poomsae event, which is a defined pattern of defence and attack motion in taekwondo.

Sources said Ehsas was the only sportsperson from Odisha in the 60-member team, which represented India at the World Open Taekwondo Championship in Nepal that concludes on Thursday.

The team won six medals, out of which three were gold, two silver and one bronze.

In the 54kg category, Ehsas had to face stiff resistance from the players of China, Iran, Uzbekistan and Nepal to clinch the gold. He said that in the first round, he had locked horn with the player of China. "In the first round of the event, my opponent was Chinese. I won against him. This followed wins against the contestants of Iran and Uzbekistan," he said.

Ehsas said that in the final, he had to face the host Nepalese, which was a top call. "It was really top to play against the Nepalese for the title. I won with score reading 25-22," he said.

Ehsas said he was speechless, and it was unbelievable for him. "I can't believe that I have won gold medals in the world championship," he said.

Sonepur District Taekwondo Association president Rabindra Kumar Hota said he was very confident of Ehsas winning gold medals at the championship. "He has made all of us proud. He has brought glory for Odisha and Sonepur in particular. The success at such a huge event will definitely instil self-confidence in him for the forthcoming events," he said.

Hota said Ehsas's next aim would be to take part in the Asian Games. "The two gold medals at the world championship has secured a birth for him to take part in the Asian Games selection trial meet in Thailand in June," he said.

Ehsas comes from the town of Birmaharajpur in Sonepur district, which is impoverished of infrastructure and basic facilities. Hurdles and adversaries have not deterred him to excel in the sport that he has chosen. At such a young age, Ehsas has opened an academy at Birmaharajpur called Ehsas Martial Arts Academy to train people self-defence. At present, there are at least 150 persons, who are training in martial arts such as karate, taekwondo, boxing and similar sports at the centre.