Welder's daughter, Chandigarh's Sapna shines with second KIYG gold

Sapna is now the proud owner of 12 medals, including a second Khelo India Youth Games gold.

New Delhi: A childhood obsession with medals introduced Chandigarh's Sapna to the sport. The journey started with yoga before she was influenced by some friends to take up judo five years ago. Sapna is now the proud owner of 12 medals, including a second gold at the Khelo India Youth Games, which she won in the under 40kg category here on Sunday.

Sapna, whose father is a welder and mother is a housewife, says her parents have no idea about her sport but have never stopped her from participating.

“I loved medals, whatever sport it was. All I wanted was to win medals. At the nearby school I saw some children doing yogasana and I joined them. But a few days later I befriended some other kids there and met them for judo training. I immediately liked the sport and decided to take up it… and so the journey began,” she said.

“My parents had no idea about my sport, even now they don't know anything about it,” she added.

A class 12 student at GMSSS in Sector 37D, Sapna's initial days in the sport were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic but she never missed a day of training.

“Our trainer used to take online classes and we were assigned to make little videos of our training, and I haven't missed a day of training. Somehow I felt that if I missed a day of training, I would miss out on a medal when the competitions resumed. That feeling pushed me to work harder,” she recalls with a smile.

Sapna first tasted success at the National Cadet Women's League when she won a gold medal. She hasn't looked back since. The judoka has so far won a total of four National Cadet Women's League gold medals, two Khelo India golds and a host of silver and bronze medals at the National Championships.

However, it was not a cakewalk for Sapna as her humble background and lack of financial support forced her to miss the Commonwealth Cadet Championships in South Africa.

“There have been a number of examples (of challenges), but the one I remember clearly is an opportunity to compete in the Commonwealth Cadet Championships. It cost around Rs 2 lakh, which I couldn't save, and I had to give it a miss. I was a little upset at the time, but took it in stride,” she said.

Despite the setbacks, there is no shortage of motivation for the 17-year-old, who believes her second KIYG gold medal will help her shine in the junior category.

For now, Sapna is happy that she inspired both her younger brothers to take up judo, and one of them has achieved immediate success by winning silver at the sub-junior national championships held at Chandigarh University in 2023.

“Once I started winning medals, my younger brothers also became interested in the sport, so I started taking them to training. And now my immediate younger brother is the National Sub-Junior junior silver medalist while the other one also looks promising,” she added.

Sapna not only etched her name in the annals of the sport but also inspired her siblings to take up the sport.