Five Rajshahi University players to compete at international taekwondo championship in Nepal

Four students and one former student of Rajshahi University (RU) are set to take part in the first Sauraha International Open Taekwondo Championship in Nepal. Travelling with them is Kamruzzaman Chanchal, deputy director of the university's Department of Physical Education and the team's taekwondo coach.

They left for Nepal from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Friday (30 October).

The international competition will be held from 30 October to 1 November in Sauraha, in Nepal's Chitwan district. Players from different countries will compete in the kyorugi (fight) and individual poomsae (form demonstration) categories.

Representing Rajshahi University will be Md Shaheen Ali of the 2021–22 session of the Department of Folklore and Social Development Studies, Sabah Kaneta Tariq of the 2021–22 session and Kamruzzaman of the 2023–24 session of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, and Mariam of the 2022–23 session of the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science.

Among them, Sabah Kaneta Tariq will compete in the individual poomsae category, Md Shaheen Ali in both poomsae and kyorugi, and Kamruzzaman and Mariam in kyorugi.

Md Shaheen Ali has won gold medals at national and international level as well as at inter-university competition. He also won gold at inter-department level and became grand champion for a second consecutive time. He is the president of the Rajshahi University Taekwondo Club.

Sabah Kaneta Tariq won gold at the first Inter-University Taekwondo Competition 2026. She also won silver at the 22nd Senior-Junior National Taekwondo Competition and gold, silver and bronze medals at inter-department level. She is the club's vice-president.

Mariam has won bronze and silver medals at national level and gold at inter-university competition. She also won gold at the inter-department taekwondo competitions of 2024 and 2025. She is currently the club's sports secretary.

Kamruzzaman won gold at the first Inter-University Taekwondo Competition 2026, bronze at the 22nd Senior-Junior National Taekwondo Competition and silver and bronze at inter-department level. He is the club's publicity secretary.

Coach Kamruzzaman Chanchal, travelling with the team, is the specialist adviser of the Rajshahi University Taekwondo Club. He holds a fifth dan black belt recognised by South Korea's Kukkiwon and a sixth dan black belt recognised by Jidokwan.

Also taking part is Ridwan Taskin Ratul, a former student of the Department of Painting, Oriental Art and Printmaking. He won silver at the World University Taekwondo Festival held in South Korea in 2018. He is now the chief instructor of ARC Global Taekwondo Academy in Rajshahi and holds a second dan black belt.