Habra’s Sayantani Dey wins taekwondo gold at the 70th National School Games

Sayantani Dey of Habra, West Bengal, won gold in the under-17, over-68-kg taekwondo category at the 70th National School Games, held in Jammu and Kashmir. She competed against 36 participants from across India and won after six bouts. The news was reported on 31 October 2026.

Dey’s taekwondo record

Dey is a Class 10 student at Habra Kamini Kumari Girls High School. She began taekwondo training at age five and started competing regularly in 2018. In 2024, she won bronze at the national-level School Games competition.

She was selected by the Sports Authority of India for training at its centre in Guwahati. Her coach, Debesh Biswas, said Dey had trained with him since she was about five years old.

Important Facts for Exams

• Sparring scoring: World Taekwondo sparring awards extra points for strikes using spinning kicks, head kicks, or both.
• Olympic sparring: Kyorugi is full-contact sparring and has been an Olympic event since 2000.
• Sport and martial-art roles: Kukkiwon focuses on taekwondo’s martial-art and self-defence aspects, while World Taekwondo promotes its sporting side.