Exclusive: Taekwondo athlete Atul Raghav speaks out on the condition of his sport in India


Exclusive: Taekwondo athlete Atul Raghav speaks out on the condition of his sport in India

Atul Raghav

Mention taekwondo and a vague notion of an East Asian martial art involving flying-kicks, black-belts and board-breaking come to mind. In India especially there is little mainstream awareness about different martial art styles, their individual techniques and nuances, their histories and countries of origin; the list could go on.

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Taekwondo athlete Atul Raghav wants to change the perception of his sport in the country.

Reaching out to FirstSportz for an exclusive interview, he says: “For most people, Judo, Karate, Taekwondo are all the same. I want to be the person to change that. In India if you pick up an unconventional sport it can be quite a challenge, once you have embarked on the path but have not achieved much. All of India runs behind a cricket ball. The media, the sponsors, the politicians, no one cares about martial arts even though it is an Olympic sport.”

Judo, karate, taekwondo: What’s the difference?

For the uninitiated, judo is a sport that originated in Japan in the 1890s. It is derived from the older Japanese martial art form of ju-jitsu. Judo involves using grappling and throwing techniques to immobilise or knock an opponent off balance as opposed to kicking and punching. It is an Olympic sport since 1964.

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Karate is the sport that most people think of when asked about martial arts. The Olympic version of kumite (sparring) karate involves punching, striking and kicking the opponent to earn the most points in a timed bout. In the artistic kata (forms) karate, competitors have to demonstrate offensive and defensive moves against an imaginary opponent. Karate also originated in Japan though it has been influenced by Chinese martial arts. The sport made it’s Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

In Olympic taekwondo and unlike in karate, competitors wear a variety of protective gear including a trunk protector, head protector, forearm and shin guards, gloves, sensing socks and a mouth guard. The points awarded can vary ranging from a single point for a punch to the trunk protector to five points for a turning kick to the head. A valid point is determined using the electronic scoring system installed in the head or trunk protector and additionally by judges using manual scoring devices.

Another rough difference between taekwondo and karate is that the latter focuses more on punches while the former primarily involves fast kicks.

Taekwondo originated in Korea more than a thousand years ago though it’s modern form evolved after the Second World War. It has been an Olympic sport since the 2000 Games.

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Atul Raghav: “A medal can change the mindset of an entire nation”

Atul Raghav
Atul Raghav

Atul Raghav aims to be a pioneer. He was the UP State Champion in 2018 and 2020 and became a UP State referee in 2021. He also won a gold in the 2019 All India National Cup and a bronze in the North Zone Taekwondo Championships in 2020. Still only 17, the biggest international achievement of his career so far has been winning a bronze in the 78kg category at the International Open Fujairah Taekwondo Championship in 2020, a G2 level event.

The one medal got him recognition in his hometown of Ghaziabad; he was nominated for the 2020 Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar and was appointed the brand ambassador of the local Municipal Corporation in 2021. However he says there has been little in the way of outside funding, sponsorships or felicitations.

When I won bronze medal in G-2 Fujairah Dubai, everyone knew (about it) even my City Magistrate and District Sports Officer but no one even congratulated me or felicitated me. Why is there so much discrimination I ask? When a student secures 1st rank in the city, everyone including the media comes for their interview but when athletes perform well and bring laurels, no one focuses on it. One medal comes from the hard work and consistency of the player supported by finance from his/her parents.

The story of athletes in lesser-known sports struggling for mainstream recognition in India is an age-old one. In 2020 and 2021 FirstSportz had highlighted the case of karateka Zabir Ansari.

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To make matters worse for athletes, both the karate and taekwondo federations have been in the doldrums. In the case of taekwondo the new federation called India Taekwondo which replaced Taekwondo Federation of India is still not recognised by the government. There was a recent news report about Indian taekwondo athletes not being able to compete under the Indian flag. The situation will not improve unless the SAI and Sports Ministry take proactive steps.

Taekwondo offers 32 medals at the Olympics and even more at the Asian Games. Rohullah Nikpai from war-torn Afghanistan became the first South Asian to win an Olympic medal in the sport back in 2008, a feat he repeated in 2012. India, despite it’s Olympic ambitions has not qualified any taekwondo athletes.

Atul believes that more medals can be revolutionary for his sport: “I actually do strongly believe that all it takes is a medal. No amount of money can do what a medal can. Only a medal has the power to change politics, change people, change the mindset of the an entire nation. And that can only be possible when we support an athlete regardless of his sport name. I want to be the person to usher in that change. I already somehow managed to influence a lot (of people) in my city and am trying to reach a lot more people on social media.”

Atul, presently enrolled in Political Science Hons. at Delhi University, gets tournament funding from his parents. He is friends with other taekwondo athletes such as Kashish Malik, Rodali Barua, Gourav Yadav, Shivam, Ankur, Saurabh Sharma and Latika Bhandari. Theirs and other athletes’ medal wins do not get highlighted in the media due to the lack of initiative by the federation.

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He is currently nursing a right leg injury but is looking forward to participating in tournaments in the future. However “more than that”, he says, “I want to bring a drastic change in sports politics. As a technical official, it is an important role to conduct a championship fair and transparent. And this needs to be implemented everywhere to avoid discrimination with athletes.

He concludes the conversation by saying: “Either I’ll change the mindset and loopholes in the system by being at a good post or by being a role model as an athlete who brought about a change.”

It is important that relevant authorities utilise the talents of youngsters like Atul to bring about the long-desired sporting revolution in the country.

 

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