Srinagar, Aug 20: Known Wushu martial art coach from J&K Kuldeep Handoo who has been at the helm of coaching Indian Wushu team from last several years has been nominated for the prestigious Dronacharya Award, the Country’s highest coaching honour.
A 12-member committee headed by retired Supreme Court justice Mukunadakam Sharma picked 13 names for the Dronacharya award and 15 names for Dhyan Chandh award, given to sportspersons for their lifetime achievement and contribution to sports.
The 13 names recommended for the Dronacharya award include J&K’s Wushu coach Kuldeep Handoo who has lead India to many triumphs at International level. He has been pivotal in making Wushu a dominant martial art discipline in Country. In recent years Wushu has emerged out as medal winning prospect for India at International games. Under the Coaching the coaching of Handoo, India bagged medals in Asian Games-2018 in Indonesia. During the same games one f the medal for India was bagged by Bhanu Pratap Singh of J&K who has been the student of Handoo for years now.
Kuldeep Handoo is working as inspector in J&K Police and apart from leading Indian Wushu Team over the years he has been promoting the game in J&K as well with Wushu Association of J&K. Under his guidance Wushu Sports has got popular in J&K and during National Games the Wushu sports discipline has been bagging maximum medals for J&K.
Terming it a dream come true Kuldeep Handoo said, “Over the years I have worked hard, first as player and then as coach. This is the honor for which I have no words to express my happiness. It is the highest honour that any coach can get in Country. Every coach has a dream to get this prestigious award. For this I am thankful to everyone”.
He said that without the hard work of his players he wouldn’t have been able to get nominated for the award.
“One gets nominated for the award only after having lead Country to medals in various International competitions. Those medals are won by players and without their hard work and dedication I wouldn’t have achieved this. I am thankful to all my students, my mentors, Wushu India officials for trusting my abilities all these years,” he added.
Wushu Association of J&K top official Ranjeet Kalra and various District Units of the Wushu Association have congratulated Kuldeep Handoo for being nominated for the prestigious award.