New Delhi, Oct 1 : Shraddha Rangarh, who aspired to be a cricketer, is making significant strides in the world of martial arts as she bagged four medals, including a gold and three silver, at the recently concluded World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO) World Cup in Uzbekistan.

Shraddha, playing in the open category under the age group of 18-40 years, won gold in senior female Musical Form Hard Style, followed by silver medals in Creative Form Hard Style, Female Musical Form Weapon Hard Style and Female Creative Form Weapon Hard Style.

The daughter of a shopkeeper, hailing from Faridabad in Haryana, is excelling in multiple disciplines, including kickboxing, taekwondo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and more. She also had her fair share of struggles in her journey and also faced scepticism about her passion for sports, especially after transitioning from cricket.

The 20-year-old athlete shared that it was never for her parents to enroll her in taekwondo or any other sport. There was no serious encouragement from her family. She feels "it was a negative experience" that encouraged her to "do better each time".

"I was a rebellious kid from the beginning; I used to play cricket with the boys of my local area. After that I played till state level as vice-captain of the U-14 girls team. My father never liked my decision of choosing cricket and asked me to focus more on my studies," Shraddha told IANS.

"One day while playing football in my school's playground, my taekwondo coach, master Syed Firoz asked me to join Taekwondo and from there my martial arts journey began," she shared.

"My parents thought it was just a phase and that my interest would fade away in a few days. They never interfered but every time I went out for my morning training sessions from 5 to 9 am, the judgemental stares from people around me were unsettling. Their eyes carried so much criticism about my choice to train early in the morning."

Despite being discouraged by all the people around her, be it relatives or people in society, she stood her ground and continued to pursue her journey towards excellence.

"The challenges were a part of my progress; people's taunts, relatives worrying about who would marry me if I went off track, and my father's concern for my studies. Visitors would come to our house and say, 'Your daughter plays with boys, girls from good families don't behave like that'. Apart from all this, I suffered financially as well as mentally. There was a lack of support; a good coach, and proper infrastructure in my area. Every day was a new challenge," said Shraddha.

Shraddha, who has been doing martial arts since the age of 12, has played more than 100 tournaments in her nine-year career so far. Sharing an experience from her first international medal, bronze in the 42 kg junior femalesay International G1 Taekwondo Games in 2019, she said "It was unexpected. I never thought I would ever be able to win a medal in my first international. It was very hard; competing with opponents ranking higher than you is a mind-blowing experience."

/IANS