Mumbai’s Shanaya Driver from Fighter Taekwondo Academy (Siddhkala Taekwondo Academy, Mumbai), represented Team Maharashtra in the ‘Open Indian International Taekwondo Championship’, held in New Delhi, on 4th and 5th January, 2023, and did the State and the community proud by winning two gold medals and a silver medal.

14-year-old Shanaya, who is a student of Jamnabai Narsee School studying in class IX, won a Gold medal each in Kyorugi (fight) and Gyeokpa (Board-breaking) category and a Silver in Poomsae (sequence of moves). She was greatly praised for her winning performance by Korean Grand Master – Lee Jeong Hee, the Kukkiwon dispatched Grand Master to India.

Shanaya has been training in Taekwondo from the age of 6 years and currently holds Poom Black Dan 2. The daughter of proud parents – Paitizad and Nina Driver, Shanaya’s impressive list of achievements includes numerous national and international awards, including 2 Golds (Poomsae and Kyorugi) in South Korea’s 3^rd Mumbai Consul General Cup (2019) Open Taekwondo Championship; a Bronze (Poomsae) at the Online (2020) Daejon MBC Cup Seocheon International Taekwondo Championship; a Gold (Poomsae) at Republic of Korea’s Online International 4^th Mumbai Consul General Cup (2021) Virtual Taekwondo Championship; a Gold (Kyorugi) at 14^th World Taekwondo Culture Expo Competition (2021); a Bronze (Kyorugi) at CISCE National Sports and Games 2022; and many more.

Shanaya enjoys listening to music, sports, calligraphy and dance. When asked about her philosophy of life, she firmly believes in the saying, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Many congratulations to her on her excellent performance and we wish her the very best for many more achievements!