Barbil (Keonjhar): Manju Munda of Sialijoda village under Joda block of Odisha’s Keonjhar district has brought glory to Odisha and India by bagging a gold in the Moscow Wushu Stars-2019 Championship held in Moscow, Russia.
She defeated her Russian counterpart in the final in the 42-kg category. In the semi and quarter-final, she conquered her Egypt and Kazakhstan counterparts, respectively.
Manju was the only player from Odisha in the 28-member Indian squad. She was accompanied by Pankaj Kumar Mahanta and three others as coach. The tournament was organised from February 22 to 27.
Pursuing her intermediate at Joda Women’s College, Manju has 20 medals in her kitty so far, including 12 gold medals. In 2017, she had won a Bronze in the National level Wushu Championship held in Uttarakhand.
The sporting talent of the tribal girl was first spotted by JSPL Foundation, which has been promoting rural and ethnic sports in Barbil region of Keonjhar district. The Foundation extended all round support to Manju including training, nutritional supplements support and facilitating her participation in State and National level Championships since 2011. Since then, she is being trained by Asian Indoor Games Kickboxing medalist Pankaj Kumar Mahanta. He was appointed by JSPL Foundation to train students in various martial arts at Sialijoda Primary School.
Wushu Association of Odisha president S.S. Harichandan and Wushu Association of India have congratulated Manju for the success.
Congratulating Manju on her maiden international medal, Co-chairperson of JSPL Foundation, Shallu Jindal said, “Barbil region is fast emerging as a breeding ground for martial art talents. JSPL Foundation is committed to nourishing rural talent to shine in the national and global forums. I’m sure Manju will shine and bring more laurels for the country in future.”
Recently, JSPL Foundation opened a Sports Complex, equipped with all the modern instruments in Sialijoda village for martial art enthusiasts. Last year, Babulu Munda from the same village had won a Silver medal at the 7th World Wushu Championship held at Brazil.
