Jinnat secures Bangladesh`s first individual medal in 40 yrs

Bangladesh’s Female wushu athlete Jinnat Akter has secured a bronze medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after advancing to the women’s 52kg wushu semifinal, ending the country’s four-decade wait for an individual medal at the continental multi-sport event.

Jinnat lost 4-0 to China’s Yu Di in the semifinal today but was assured of a bronze after reaching the last four.

Twenty-three-year-old Jannat earlier received a first-round bye and advanced to the semifinal without fighting in the quarterfinal after Indonesia’s Tharisa Florentina was disqualified for being overweight.

Fifteen athletes entered the event, which meant two bronze medals were awarded alongside gold and silver.

“This is my first international Games. By the grace of Allah, I have won a medal here. I could not sleep throughout the night before the semifinal,” Jinnat said after her victory.

She called for better training facilities and foreign coaching support to help develop wushu in Bangladesh.

“We badly need our own venue for year-round intensive training. We also need foreign coaches. With these facilities, wushu can go much further in Bangladesh,” she said.

Jinnat’s bronze ended a 40-year wait for Bangladesh’s second individual Asian Games medal. Boxer Mosharraf Hossain won the country’s first individual medal, also bronze, at the 1986 Seoul Games.