‘I dedicate this medal to all the Good Samaritans who funded my trip to UK’

City-based

Taekwondo player B Sai Deepak

, who fought against all odds to raise funds to play international competitions, has won the silver medal in the recently concluded

British Open Taekwondo Championship 2019

in Manchester. The 23-year-old Hyderabadi boy bagged the silver in the Speed Kicking category. A delighted Deepak dedicated his medal to all the well-wishers who helped raise funds for him to be able to participate in the tournament. “Today, I’m able to proudly display this medal in front of everyone only because of all my well-wishers who have backed me financially and my coach Jayanth Reddy. It was a great tournament and while I’m a bit disappointed on missing out on gold, this has been a tremendous learning experience for me and will help me improve further for my future tournaments,” says Deepak, adding, “I’m not going to settle for silver. I want to clinch the gold next time and I’m hungry to win more medals for India.”

Apart from his silver medal, Deepak has another reason to be happy. The

Taekwondo

champ has received a certificate from Guinness Book of World Records for doing the most side lunges in one minute. “I attempted this record on July 19 and the results just came in a couple of days ago. I’m delighted to have broken Pakistani player Irfan Mehsood’s record. I dedicate this record to women and will start working to teach quality self-defence to them,” he says.

Deepak is now putting all his efforts into his next tournament, the US Open Taekwondo Championship, that is set to take place in February 2020. Although the Taekwondo Federation of India is yet to provide him with a GAL (Global Athletes License) card, which makes him eligible for Olympic qualification, Deepak wants to keep going. “I will continue my relentless pursuit of getting the GAL card, but in the meantime, I will keep performing in tournaments and try to make my country proud,” he says, signing off.

Taekwondo champ also enters the record book

B Sai Deepak received a certificate from Guinness book World Records for doing the most side lunges in one minute. The record was previously held by Pakistani player Irfan Mehsood