Tumbka Pahar Village( Jamui District), BIHAR:

25-year-old Zabir Ansari is a national-level Karate player from Bihar and has won many accolades but lack of sponsors is likely to derail his plans to attend upcoming international Karate competition in Canada.

Darbhanga (Bihar):

A national-level Karate player Mohd Zabir Ansari (25), who created history last month by winning the gold medal in the 75 kg weight category at the Karate Championship in Chhattisgarh, won’t be able to attend a crucial international Karate competition in Canada if he doesn’t get sponsorship.

Zabir is a final year bachelor’s student of Urdu at Patna College of Patna University. Last month, he won the gold medal in the All India University Tournament held at Atal Bihari Vajpayee University, Vilaspur in Chattisgarh. The tournament featured teams from 140 universities across the country.

“I want to participate in an international Karate competition to be held in Canada next month. I urgently need a sponsor to help me reach there. Without a sponsor, I won’t be able to participate,” Zabir, who trains at the Institute of Martial Arts in Patna, told TwoCircles.net.

“Unlike the national level competition, where I spend from my pocket, I cannot afford an international trip,” he added.

Zabir belongs to a poor family from Tumbka Pahar village in the Jamui district. He is the first person from his village to study at Patna University.

Son of a beedi maker mother and a school teacher father, Zabir doesn’t have enough money to spend on travel expenses anymore.

To support his career as a karate player, he had to invest his family’s meagre savings which have now dried up.

“I can’t afford to travel on my own anymore. I request the government and all those who want me to do well for my country to help me win medals for the country,” he said.

Zabir’s parents told TwoCircles.net that they are proud of their son and want him to succeed. “We are poor and face many hardships but we want him to win a gold medal in the Olympics for our nation. We request the government to help him to achieve this goal,” they said.

State champion in debut year
Zabir started his career in 2015 and became the Bihar State Champion in his debut year.

He has won several accolades in his short career. He has won medals for his performance at the state, national and international levels. He has been a gold medalist in the Bihar State Karate Competition six consecutive times. He won silver and bronze medals twice in the National Karate Competition. He was a bronze medalist in the Eastern Zonal Karate Competition and again won bronze at the Inter-University Karate Competition. He has been honoured three times with the National Level Sports Honor by the Government of Bihar.

Zabir has also made his presence felt in many international tournaments. He was a silver medalist in the South Asian Karate Championship. He also won a gold medal in the 75 kg weight category in the 12th All India Open National Karate Competition last year.

In spite of his achievements, Zabir is yet to get any help from the Bihar government or the National Karate Federation. “We can do great internationally if we could get state and corporate sponsorship,” he said.

The Karate Association in Bihar did not respond to repeated calls made by this reporter. The story will be updated as and when the response is received.

Sufi Parween is a fellow at SEEDS-TCN mentorship program.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / Sufi Parveen (headline edited) / pix edited from firstsportsz.com / February 06th, 2023