Humayra Akter Antara won the fourth gold medal for Bangladesh in the final of the women’s -61kg kumite event at the ongoing 13th South Asian Games held Tuesday at Nepal Karate Academy at Satdobato in Lalitpur, Nepal.
In the final, Humayra beat Nepal’s Anu Gurung by 5-2 points.
Humayra said, “I’m very happy. It was my dream to win gold in SA Games since I started karate. I sacrificed many things including my study for this game. I completed my HSC this year. I missed the admission tests of University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College just because of the SA Games preparation. If I were not playing here I would have got admitted to a good university.”
Humayra, who won the first medal for Bangladesh in this SA Games on Monday winning bronze in the women’s individual kata event, smashed Gul Naz of Pakistan by 4-0 points in the semifinals.
“I started playing karate in 2013. Karate is very helpful for the girls. Besides, I have a soft corner for karate since childhood. I can defend me, I don’t need anyone’s support. That’s why I chose karate. My dream was to become a doctor. I studied in Wills Little,” she added.
“I got more inspired after seeing Al Amin and Priya win gold. The most difficult game was against Nepal in the final. I have a dream to do something for the country. I saw Sun win gold in 2010 which left a desire in me,” the prodigy said after the event.
“Everybody, no individual, helped me to make me what I’m today. They believed in me and I was not sure before today if I could keep their faith. I dedicate this gold to everyone who kept faith in me. I was only thinking of national flag. I had three gold medals in the last national meet. Today, I have fulfilled my dream (crying).”
Bangladesh won a total of three gold medals on the day till the last report came in hand in the morning and all came from karate disciplines.
Al Amin won the first gold on the day for Bangladesh in the karate men’s individual under-60 kg weight category while Marzan Akter Piya secured the day’s second gold for Bangladesh by beating her Pakistani rival Kousar Sana by 4-3 points in 55kg category of Women’s Kumite Karate final.
It was Humayra, who brought the first medal for Bangladesh by winning bronze in the Karate women’s singles kata event on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Dipu Chakma won the first gold medal for the country in the Taekwondo poomsae event 29-plus-year category in the ongoing SA Games.
