Gangtok, April 9: Rupen Pradhan brought gold and glory to the hill state by bagging first place in the fin weight category (54 kg category) of the taekwondo championship at the 9th South Asian Federation (SAF) games at Rawalpindi.

Pradhan’s feat, which has given Sikkim its first international martial arts medal, has also helped put the state on the international taekwondo map.

A member of the Sikkim Amateur Taekwondo Association, Pradhan was selected to represent the country at the SAF games earlier this year.

Samsong Gurung, the publicity secretary of the association, confirmed Pradhan’s achievement.

Gurung also said that Pradhan, along with the other members of the taekwondo team, had reached New Delhi.

“Association president Y.B. Thapa, general secretary Samser Subba and all other members are extremely pleased with Pradhan’s performance and have congratulated him on his sterling performance at the games,” Gurung said.

Pradhan, who began taekwondo training in 1991 at age seven, was guided by coach Trilok Subba. Subba, a 5th dan black belt in taekwondo who has several national titles to his credit.

The Sports Authority of India, Bangalore, selected Pradhan in 2001 to help him hone his taekwondo skills.

Since then, he has been training under experts like Kim Hong Jo, Lee Jea Ku and Gautam S. Virdi for various championships.

Pradhan’s consistent performance at the national level has has helped him win several titles.

He won the gold at the 32nd national games held in Hyderabad in 2002. He was also awarded first division at the junior national championship held in Bangalore and the 21st senior national championship at Hyderabad in 2002. Pradhan also emerged champion at the federation cup national championship held at Mizoram in 2002.

Before emerging as a participant worthy of representing the country, Pradhan got a feel of the competition in the sport by participating in several junior-level tournaments and various other national and international events.