Four Jammu & Kashmir fencers to represent India in Senior World Cup
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Four fencers from Jammu and Kashmir, including talented TOPS athlete Shreya Gupta, were chosen on Monday to compete for India at the coming Sabre World Cup. Vishal Thapar, Javed Ahmed Choudhary, and Mayank Sharma will all compete in the men's World Cup in Madrid starting from May 6.
Shreya, the only female qualifier, will compete on May 8 in Hammamet, Tunisia. The quartet, who are graduates of Jammu's Fencing State Centre of Excellence at M A Stadium, were selected performance-based and ranking in the Senior National Championship in Amritsar in March.
"We're doing a lot of fencing in Jammu and Kashmir. Under Khelo India, we have been given the Centre of Excellence with state-of-art equipment, coaches, physios that is benefiting the fencers," secretary J&K Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul told PTI.
"We are duty-bound to provide the best possible facilities to our youth who are second to none in skills and talent and the day is not far away when our athletes shall reach the podium at Olympics as well," principal secretary YSS Alok Kumar said.
India will have eight judokas among the 65-member contingent competing in the present Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, which will culminate on May 15. Three of the eight are from J&K: Rakesh Singh (under 60kg), Vishal Khajuria (under 66kg), and Rakhshinda Mehak (below 78kg). All three judokas train at the MA Stadium in Jammu under the supervision of J&K Sports Council senior judo coach Suraj Bhan Singh.
