Sinan wins taekwondo silver medal in Belgium Open

BRUSSELS: UAE-based Pakistani taekwondo player Sinan Ashfaq Ahmed won silver medal at the Belgium Open Taekwondo Championship, says a press release.

The 40th Belgium Open Taekwondo Championship was held in Lommel from March 15-17.

Sinan beat Pavel Mironov (Russia) in the semi-final in the +65kg cadet category before being forced to forfeit the gold medal match due to injury.

Sinan’s coach Abdullah Hatim, UAE national team coach and Technical Director at Sharjah Sports Club, commended Sinan’s performance considering that it was a G2 event with participation of more than 1,400 athletes from over 50 countries.

“Sinan has good prospects in the Cadet Taekwondo World Cup if he continues to work hard,” said Hatim.

Sinan’s win was even more special as this was the third medal from him for Pakistan in less than two months.

He had won gold at the Fujairah Open Taekwondo Championship in February and a gold at the UAE National Championship in Sharjah on March 1.

The 13-year-old Sharjah boy had opened with a bronze for Pakistan at the President’s World Taekwondo Championship held in Tashkent in August 2017 making him the first Pakistani expatriate to win medals in taekwondo for his country.

Pakistan Taekwondo Federation President Col Waseem Ahmed said that he was confident of Sinan’s success at the next two competitions to be held later this year.

Sinan is younger brother of Ammar Ashfaq Ahmed, who represented Pakistan at the Junior World Cup last year and also played a number of other international events for their country.