Shariya Manzoor is a 19 year old boxer from Nehama Kakpora, Pulwama who has won 2 silver medals in UT boxing championships.
Shariya is a national gold medalist in thang soo doo while she has also won a Silver medal at state takewondo championships.
Apart from this she has also participated in belt wrestling championships at state and national level.
For Shariya the journey of being South Kashmir’s first female boxer began by chance in 2018. She used to go to the indoor stadium to play badminton which was the sport she was first interested in. While at the academy she would see other girls practicing boxing and other combat sports.
This she says was the trigger for her to swap a badminton racket for boxing gloves. Since then she has braved odds and despite receiving little to no support from the Sports Council in Kashmir, she has pursued her goals relentlessly.
She wanted to participate in the UT Boxing Championships but she was not allowed to go as there was no coach with her. Next year again the same problem emerged but Shariya went to the championships without a coach and came back with medal.
She participated in another Boxing Championships yet again attaining a podium finish, but received no appreciation from the sports council. Nonetheless she hopes her success will inspire other girls to take up boxing.
Like boxing Shariya has had to fight out and punch her way through these difficulties and she has done that with great tenacity.
The young boxer also trains in an academy named ‘Lion’s Den’ in Pulwama, also helping other girls to learn self defence.
She says while boxing or combat sports as a career maybe limited in scope in Kashmir, but young girls should learn about self defence. She stresses that the importance of self defence should be taught in schools with special lessons.
While parents of children should also encourage them to take up self defence classes and learn techniques so that they are not vulnerable when under a spot of bother whether at home school or college.
She says that her parents have supported her throughout her journey
Shariya Manzoor has shown that one needs to be deeply focused on their goal regardless of who supports them. With time this young boxer will carve her own path and continue to shine at the biggest stage.