Sangina Baidya (Nepali: संगिना बैद्य) (born December 29, 1974, in Kathmandu) is a retired Nepalese taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the women's flyweight category.[1] She won the Gold medal in the Flyweight−47 kg division at the 1996 Asian Taekwondo Championships in Melbourne,Australia.She retrieved a bronze medal in the 51-kg division at the 2000 Asian Taekwondo Championships in Hong Kong, China, and attained a seventh-place finish at the 2004 Summer Olympics, representing her nation Nepal.[2] Before her sporting career ended in 2009, Baidya trained for Central Dojang Taekwondo Club in her native Kathmandu, under her personal coach Nastu Bahadur Bisural.[2]

Sangina Baidya
Nepali Taekwondo Queen & Olympian Sangina Baidya
Personal information
Full nameSangina Baidya (संगिना बैद्य)
NationalityNepali
Born29 December 1974 (1974-12-29) (age 49)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3+12 in)
Sport
SportTaekwondo
EventKyorugi
Coached byNastu Bahadur Bisural
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Nepal
Asian Taekwondo Championships
Gold medal – first place Melbourne, Australia -47 Kg
Silver medal – second place Manila, Philippines -47 Kg
Bronze medal – third place Hong Kong -51 Kg
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1999 Kathmandu
Gold medal – first place 2004 Islamabad
Taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Qualification
Bronze medal – third place 2004, Bangkok, Thailand

Career edit

Baidya played taekwondo for a long time as a athlete in the Nepal Taekwondo Association. She started practicing taekwondo at the age of sixteen. Since then, she has obtained a total of ten national championship titles, and won fourteen medals (ten golds, a silver, and three bronzes) in twenty international tournaments between 1992 and 2001. Moreover, Baidya became a quarterfinalist in the women's flyweight class at the 1995 World Taekwondo Championships in Manila, Philippines, and accepted several prestigious awards for her full dedication to the sport, including three as the sportswoman of the year by Nepal Sports Journalist Forum (1996, 1997, and 2003).[2][3]

Holding her distinction of becoming the nation's first ever taekwondo squad, Baidya qualified for the Nepalese squad in the women's flyweight class (49 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Earlier in the process, she placed third and booked her place on the Nepalese team from the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.[4][5] She crashed out in an immediate 0–4 defeat to Chinese Taipei's Chen Shih-hsin in her opening match, but slipped directly into the repechage bracket for her chance of Nepal's first Olympic medal in history, following Chen's progress towards the final.[6] In the repechage, Baidya fell short in her first playoff to Colombia's Gladys Mora with a 0–4 decision and a disputable one-point deduction for landing a kick on her opponent's head, relegating Baidya to seventh.[7][8]

References edit

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sangina Baidya". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Oli, Prajwal (19 July 2009). "Sangina Baidya retires as taekwondo player". Kathmandu: República. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  3. ^ Roy, Neeraj Chandra (27 October 2010). "Taekwondo damsels in the spotlight". Kathmandu: República. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Athens 2004: Taekwondo – Women's Entry List by NOC" (PDF). Athens 2004. LA84 Foundation. pp. 5–7. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  5. ^ Acharya, Mahesh (2004). "Sangina Baidya qualifies for Olympics". The Himalayan Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  6. ^ Lin, Chieh-yu (27 August 2004). "Taekwondo team wins two gold medals". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Taekwondo – Women's Flyweight (49kg/108lbs) Repechage Round 1". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 12 August 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  8. ^ "Colombiana Mora pierde el bronce ante taiwanesa" [Colombia's Mora lost the bronze to Thai] (in Spanish). Caracol Television. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2015.

External links edit