Twin sisters Ayra and Ansa Chisti have made Jammu and Kashmir and the country proud by clinching gold and silver medals respectively in the women's 56 kg category at the International Wushu Championship held in Georgia.
The event was held in Georgia from August 2 to August 7. The sisters faced each other in the final of their category in which Ayra prevailed as gold medalist while Ansa settled for silver.
The journey was not really an easy one for both sisters. They both came across an indoor system on the internet where their coach Asif was training and enrolled on his classes.
The duo then started playing the sport, a combination of kick, punch and throw at the national level. They won several medals every year. After this, they were selected by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), where a camp was held to determine participants for this championship in Georgia.
Ayra and Ansa qualified for the championships and returned home with two medals. They received a warm welcome from their family. Sweets were distributed and they were garlanded.
"Wushu is a combination of kick, punch and throw. Asif sir trained us and then we started getting medals in nationals every year. We were selected for SAI where trials for this championship were held. We were selected and departed on July 31. The championship lasted till August 7. I had three fights and I battled my sister in the final," said Ayra said.
Ayra said that though there was pressure to win medals, good training instilled belief in them that they will return home with gold.
Ansa also said that such events give a lot of exposure to players.
"I and my sister did not fight in finals as sisters, but as competitors. This experience was really nice for us. We are here because of Asif sir's hard work," he added.
Asif, their coach said that he is proud of both the sisters on their win.
"From national to this medal, their journey has been a long one. There were some hurdles. There were some people trying to suppress us on our way to internationals, but we did not give up. They used to train from 4:30 am to 8:00 am in the morning and had evening sessions too. I would like to appreciate their parents too," he said.
