Sinan Ashfaq claims silver medal in 6th Sofia Open Taekwondo Championship
Pakistani taekwondo star, Sinan Ashfaq adds another silver medal in his collection by winning a silver medal in Sofia Open Taekwondo Championship 2019 which concluded successfully at Sports Hall in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Dubai based Pakistani taekwondo athlete Sinan Ashfaq is unstoppable in adding to his medal collection while he represents Pakistan in several international events as he wins another medal and makes the country proud this time by claiming silver medal in the 6th edition of Sofia Open Taekwondo Championship which was held in Bulgaria and was organized by Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation and Taekwondo Club Ramus that featured more than 900 athletes from over 40 countries.
Competitions were held in all age groups categories that were: Seniors, Juniors, Cadets and Children
among which Sinan participated in Cadet 65 KG weight category. He was up against Theocharis Papapanagiotou of Greece in the semi-final in which he won by a huge margin of 18 points and stunned his opponent as well as the crowd, to which he said:
“The audience was highly surprised with my skills against a very strong opponent. They were not expecting me to stand even outside chance of doing well against a reputed and experienced lad, but thanks to my trainers and my father especially, who always stand like a rock behind me and bear all my expenditures to ensure my presence in world events. I played well and not only shocked Theocharis, but also the entire crowd. "
But unfortunately, Sinan narrowly missed against his Serbian counterpart, Dimitrije Ajdukovic in the final after giving tough time to his opponent despite him carrying foot injury. It was highly close and competitive final and went right down to the wire, before his foot start swelling badly and he had to leave with no other option left for him but to quit. For this loss of the opportunity of him winning the gold medal, the fighter said,
"Although I lost, yet trust me, the entire arena erupted and gave me standing ovation. They appreciated my fighting skills as well as my determination to fight despite getting injured,”
The UAE based Pakistani taekwondo star, Sinan Ashfaq Ahmed won his first bronze medal for Pakistan at the President World Taekwondo Championship held in Tashkent in August 2017 just at the age of 12 years. The taekwondo journey of Sinan began at the age of only 6 years, when he started playing the combat sport for fitness but later developed his skills and became a professional athlete. Also, he recently won gold medal for Pakistan team in Fujairah last month, while won another gold medal in UAE Open National Taekwondo Championship this month and a gold in the same event in 2017.
Sinan says, "My next target is to win medals in Asian Cadet Taekwondo World Cup in Jordan in July and Cadet Taekwondo World Cup in Tashkent in August this year."
He's being trained at Sharjah Sport Club with Abdullah Hatim who is the Head Coach of the UAE’s National Taekwondo Team and Technical Director at the Sharjah Sport Club, along side his younger brother, Ammar Ashfaq Ahmed, who represented Pakistan at the Junior World Cup last year and also played a number of other international events.
Sinan started his training with acclaimed coach Zeyad Hammad Abu Zahieh, 7th Dan Kukkiwon based in Sharjah, in addition to his Pakistani coach Nadir Khan, said he has been preparing for the World Cadet Championship to be held in Uzbekistan.
