Success isn’t an overnight process: Aman Kadyan

Taekwondo athlete Aman Kadyan recently became the first Indian to qualify for World Taekwondo Grand Prix. Excited to compete at the tournament next month in Rome, the 22-year-old Haryana boy shares how he found his calling accidentally while “running away from a classroom”.

“At the age of 13 (in 2013), I remember wanting to skip the first period of Maths,” says the Jhajjar-born black belt champion, recalling his first brush with taekwondo. He goes on, “I spotted some sporting activity going on in the school playground and that turned out to be a taekwondo class. After that, I started going for it regularly.”

As his skills started landing him medals at the district level,

Kadyan shifted to Delhi-ncr to reach greater heights. “It’s human nature to want more, so I moved to Gurugram to join a professional academy,” says the athlete, who has previously won gold at the Indian Open International Taekwondo Championship 2019. He adds, “We had already moved from Jhajjar Beri to Rewari for better opportunities, and this was the second time I moved. I’ve been training for seven years now. Success isn’t an overnight process; there have been lows in my life as well.”

Making history by becoming the first Indian to be selected for the coveted championship — which allows participation of only 31 athletes from the world over — Kadyan shares how he “was awaiting the email the whole day”. But, it didn’t come! “I was returning from the academy to my hostel the next day, and that’s when I got the notification. I just dropped my bag in the middle of the road and ran to my coach to hug and share the news with him,” he recalls.

It’s human nature to want more, so I moved to Gurugram to join a professional academy. AMAN KADYAN, Taekwondo athlete