CHENNAI: For the first time, a student from a Tamil Nadu government school, AS Nithila, won the gold medal in karate at the National School Games held in Ludhiana recently.
Nithila is a class VI student of a government girls' higher secondary school in Ashok Nagar.
The 13-year-old grabbed the gold medal in the 46-kg category at the karate championship.
The event -- School Games Federation of India (SGFI) -- was conducted by the Directorate of School Education, Punjab, from December 11 to 17.
Nithila was selected after she aced similar events in the state. In the state-level event, as many as 252 students participated in the 46-kg category held in Karaikudi. Nithila was selected for the national-level event after winning within the state.
Speaking to DT NEXT, Nithila's father, Sampath Kumar, who is a karate coach himself, said, "It is a highly proud moment for all of us, especially for her to have won gold. Also, Nithila being the first government school girl to win the laurels will motivate other girls to participate in events of such scale and win medals for the state."
Meanwhile, it is to be noted that Nithila has been winning and participating in several competitions in the past. She had won the silver medal in the India Open Karate tournament as well.