Johny Mangkhaiya, a young karateka from Arunachal Pradesh has been selected by the Karate Association of India (KAI) to represent the nation in the 2018 Asian Games scheduled to be held at the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 02 this year.
The certificate of selection was handed over to Johny by KAI president R Thiagarajan and general secretary Bharat Sharma during a function held at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.
Johny was chosen following the final selection trials conducted in Bhopal on Monday during which she defeated three other contenders from Orissa, Bihar and Delhi to come out on top.
She would be representing the Indian Karate contingent in the women’s individual Kumite in 68 kg category.
Daughter of Nira Mangkhiya and Mazen Mangkhiya, Johny, who belongs to Seppa in the state’s East Kameng district, has many national and international medals including two senior national and one Commonwealth gold to her credit.
Besides winning gold in the 8th Common Wealth Karate Championship held in India in 2016, she also represented the country in the 23rd Senior World Karate Championship and the 12th AKF Senior Championship in Austria in 2016 and Dubai in United Arab Emirates in 2013 respectively.
“It is a proud moment for us and people of the state have high expectations from Mangkhaiya. We hope and pray that she will do well in the Games and live up to the expectations of the people of state and country,” Olympic Association of Arunachal Pradesh secretary general, A K Techi said.
Arunachal Karate Association president, Shihan Likha Tara who also expressed extreme happiness on Mangkhiya’s selection exuded hope that Johny would bring laurels to the state and country by winning medal.
Also to congratulate Johny for her selection was chief minister Pema Khandu.
“My hearty congratulations and blessings for your best performance. May you shine always,” Khandu tweeted this afternoon.
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Dr Mohesh Chai, parliamentary secretary Nyamar Karbak, Arunachal Olympic Association president Padi Richo and the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee also congratulated Johny for her great achievement.
The APCC, meanwhile, has appealed to the state government to provide all necessary help and assistance to the karateka as per the norms.
Johny who had recently undergone one month advance training at Iran, would join the rest of the Indian contingent for training at the Sports Authority of India training centre in Indore on Thursday and would undergo training there till July 8.