Kulsoom Hazara (born 4 September 1988)[1][2] is a Pakistani karateka.

Kulsoom Hazara
Personal information
Born (1988-09-04) September 4, 1988 (age 36)
Quetta, Pakistan
Sport
SportKarate
Medal record
Representing  Pakistan
South Asian Karate Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Colombo -68kg
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Colombo Kumite (team)
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kathmandu Kumite (team)
Silver medal – second place 2019 Kathmandu -68kg

Background

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Hazara is the youngest of four children: three sisters and one brother and belongs to the Hazara community of Quetta, Balochistan. She lost her mother to cancer at the age of two and her father to a heart attack at the age of 9.[2] On her father's death, her eldest sister, Fatima and her cousin and brother-in-law, Sarwar Ali became her guardians.[2] In 2000, due to the sectarian violence in her hometown, she shifted to Karachi.[2] The loss of her brother-in-law in 2003, proved traumatic and changed her life.[2] Kulsoom completed 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal, she won a gold and silver medal despite an injury, securing a place as a prominent karateka woman in South Asia.

Career

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Her father got her admitted to a karate club owned by Sarwar Ali, when she was five.[2]

National

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Hazara initially represented Pakistan Army before switching to WAPDA.[1] She won her first national level gold medal in 2005.[3]

Owing to her meritorious achievements, Hazara received 'Icon of the Nation' award in 2017.

YEAR TITLE VENUE AWARD
2002 1st National Women Karate Championship Lahore 1 Bronze Medal
2004 National Games Quetta 1 Bronze Medal
2006 National Women Karate Championship Rawalpindi 1 Silver Medal
2008 National Women Karate Championship Lahore 2 Gold Medals
2009 National Women Karate Championship Hyderabad 3 Gold Medals  
2010 6th National Women Karate Championship Karachi 3 Gold Medals
2010 31st National Games Peshawar 3 Gold Medals
2012 Shaheed Benazir Bhutto 8th National Women Karate Championship Lahore 3 Gold medals  
2012 32nd National Games Lahore 3 Gold Medals  
2015 9th National Women Karate Championship Lahore 2 Gold Medals  
2016 10th National Women Karate Championship Lahore 2 Gold Medals  
2017 11th National Women Karate Championship Lahore 2 Gold Medals  
2018 12th National Women Karate Championship Sahiwal 2 Gold Medals  
2019 33rd National Games Peshawar 2 Gold Medals  
2019 13th National Women Karate Championship Lahore 2 Gold Medals  

International

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She represented Pakistan for the first time at the 4th Islamic Women's Games held in Tehran, Iran in 2005.[2] She came fifth.[2]

In 2010, she won her first medals, two bronze at the South Asian Games held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[2]

In 2012, she was part of the first ever women's team sent to the Asian Championships, which were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[4]

At the 2016 South Asian Karate Championship held in New Delhi, India, she won two medals: a gold and a silver.[2] In the 2017 Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, she won another gold in -68 kg and a bronze in team kumite.[5] In the -68 kg final she defended her title by defeating her opponent by 10 points to 2.[6]

In 2018, she participated in the Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.[1]

At the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal, Hazara won gold in the team kumite event and a silver in the -68 kg event.[7]

Events

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Hazara has participated in the following international events:[2]

  1. 4th Islamic Women Games 2005, Tehran, Iran
  2. 10th South Asian Games 2006, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  3. 11th South Asian Games 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh
  4. 11th Senior Cadet AKF (Asian) Championship 2012, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  5. 17th Asian Games 2014, Incheon, South Korea
  6. 3rd South Asian Karate Championship 2016, New Delhi, India
  7. 4th South Asian karate championship 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  8. 4th Islamic Solidarity Game 2017, Baku, Azerbaijan
  9. Karate 1 Premier League 2017, Dubai, UAE
  10. 15th AKF Senior Championship 2018, Amman, Jordan
  11. 18th Asian Games 2018, Jakarta, Indonesia
  12. Karate 1 Series A 2018, Shanghai, China
  13. 13th South Asian Games 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal

Film

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In 2018, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy made a short film about her titled, "Kulsoom Hazara - The Karate Wonder"

References

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  1. ^ a b c "A brief story of Pakistan's Karate superstar Kulsoom Hazara". MM News TV. 2019-12-31. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Khan, Muhammad Asif (2019-12-22). "KARATE: THE FIGHTING SPIRIT". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  3. ^ Adil, Hafsa. "'Role model': Pakistan's Hazara woman packing a punch". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  4. ^ "When deaths, unhappy relatives failed to bring Kulsoom down". The Express Tribune. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  5. ^ "Pakistan Karate Federation (Pakistan Olympic Association)". nocpakistan.org. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  6. ^ "Karate star Kulsoom wants women to follow her example". The Express Tribune. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. ^ "Karate". South Asian Games Nepal 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-16.