Rourkela: At an age when most children love to play and do their studies, a seven-year-old taekwondo kid from Rourkela is representing the state and the country, eyeing for a gold medal in the Asian Taekwondo Olympics to be held in 2026.
Meet Kousik Kumar of Sector5 here who has already made the city and state proud by clinching 12 gold medals, nine silver medals and 10 bronze medals in various national and international taekwondo championships. Kousik is a Class II student of DAV Public School, Sector-16. His father Malay Ranjan Barik is in Indian Army, while his mother Kshirodini Barik is a homemaker.
After observing that Kousik has trouble in sleeping and he would feel exhausted after playing and exercising, his mother enrolled him in The Next Gen Institute, a taekwondo training centre in Sector-3. Initially, he started with dance classes, but gradually shifted to taekwondo training under the guidance of his instructor Anand Kumar Suna. Kousik got a lot of inspiration and encouragement from his mentor who was happy about his quick grasp of various martial art techniques.
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In 2019, Kousik participated in National-level Taekwondo Championship held at Guru Nanak Public School in Rourkela, where he showcased his exceptional talent by defeating three players in the junior category and winning his gold medal. Impressed by his skills, Anand began grooming him to represent the state and country at national and international levels.
During Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Kousik continued his taekwondo training through online video conferences and won a gold medal. In 2021, he was selected for the Indian team to participate in 4th National Taekwondo Championship, where he defeated a Korean player to win another gold medal.
Later, in 2021, Kousik participated in the India Cup Open International Taekwondo Championship in Goa and won a gold medal along with a bronze medal in the All India Sub-Junior category in Bilaspur. Kousik is the only contestant in the junior category from Sundargarh district to earn a black belt in taekwondo. In 2022, he bagged a gold medal in Junior Category at the State-level Taekwondo Championship and secured one gold and two bronze medals in the 6th National Taekwondo Championship in 2023.
Kousik’s achievements at such a young age led to his selection in the Indian Junior Taekwondo team for the 2024 Junior Asian Taekwondo Championship in Ghaziabad, Delhi. There, he got trained under Surendra Bhandari, first gold medalist in men’s category from Asian Taekwondo Championship. On August 9, Kousik returned from a tour to Thailand where he won one gold and two bronze medals at the 7th Heroes Taekwondo International Championship.
Kousik has qualified for G1 Taekwondo championship to be held in South Korea. Kousik has vowed to continue his efforts until he wins a gold medal in the Asian Taekwondo Olympics. He credits his success to the unwavering support of his family and the guidance of his mentor Anand.
PNN