Chandigarh University's Aruna Tanwar becomes India's first ever Taekwondo athlete to qualify for Paralympics
Currently ranked world number 4, Aruna Tanwar has bagged an entry to Tokyo Paralympics to be held from 24 August to 5 September 2021. A B.PEd. student of Chandigarh University, Aruna Tanwar, representing India, got wild card entry to Paralympics on the basis of her exemplary consistent performance over the past few years which included a Bronze Medal at World Para Taekwondo Championship 2019 in Turkey and another bronze medal at Asian Para Taekwondo championship 2019 in Jordan. With this wild card entry Aruna Tanwar has become India's first ever Taekwondo athlete to qualify for Paralympics.
Daughter of a driver, Aruna hails from a small village Dinod near Bhiwani, Haryana, and has worked very hard to reach this position as she faced many hurdles due to weak financial position of her family, but her father Naresh Kumar encouraged and supported her. Aruna started learning martial art at the age of 8 and soon proved her mettle in the sport by winning 5 gold medals at National Taekwondo Championships. "My dream to represent India at Paralympics 2021 has been fulfilled and I am confident to win a medal for my country," said Aruna Tanwar. The 21-year-old Aruna recently went through a nervous time as she couldn't participate in the World and Asian qualifiers at Jordan due to travel ban because of the pandemic. Aruna is among the eight athletes from eight countries, who was offered the bipartite quotas for Tokyo by IOC and World Taekwondo.
"Aruna was born with deformity in both her hands but she never complained about it, rather she practiced harder to overcome the physical barriers and convert them into a tool to be used in the martial art," said Aruna's mother, Sonia. "With her selection for Paralympics, Aruna will now become a role model for many, specially girls who are not given equal opportunity in comparison to boys in India by their parents to showcase their inner talent and get empowered," she added.
"Aruna is one of the 72 taekwondo players from 37 nations competing in the Paralympics as the sport will make its Paralympics debut," said Aruna's coach Ashok Kumar. "Aruna will compete in the Women's U-49 category at Tokyo Paralympics," added Ashok Kumar.
Congratulating Aruna Tanwar on her success Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University, said, "It is a matter of pride that one of our talented student Aruna Tanwar has been selected to represent India at the Paralympics 2021 which is the highest level of the sports Tournament". Aruna Tanwar is a proud recipient of Dhyan Chand sports scholarship from Chandigarh University which takes care of her academic fees, hostel fees, coaching facility and special diet.