Indian taekwondo player Afreen Hyder is one of the athletes from Jammu & Kashmir who are breaking down the barriers and creating a name for themselves on the national and international stage.
Hyder was born and raised in Jammu and Kashmir. She went to Delhi Public School (Srinagar) for her schooling before moving to Delhi for her Bachelor of Arts programme. While at school, she excelled academically, but when she reached class eleven, she was forced to decide whether to pursue engineering or sports. She took up sports as her career, quickly rising to the top of the Indian taekwondo scene.
Hyder said she never thought about pursuing taekwondo professionally as she first started training in the sport after seeing children participate in it in her school. The athlete said it was only after winning her first medal at the national level in 2010 that she started taking the sport seriously and it soon turned into her passion.
Hyder had her first taekwondo coaching from Atul Pangotra in Jammu before relocating to Madhya Pradesh for additional training. The youngster is presently receiving her training at one of the best academies in India in Gurugram.
