Taekwondo: Hayat Bhatti wins gold at British National Championships

Hayat Bhatti (right)

An 18-year-old from Rochdale has become a champion after winning her third medal at the British Taekwondo National Championships.

Hayat Bhatti, a student at Rochdale Sixth Form College, recently fought in the national championships at the Copperbox Arena in London where she won gold.

Hayat has been taking part in tournaments for five years and has trained at Horizon in Oldham since she was 13. She trains here alongside her younger brother, Adil, who also attends the same college.

Thanks to her talent, Hayat has also been called up for the Pakistan national team to fight at the junior worlds, plus a call up from the Great British national taekwondo team.

Hayat’s coach, Rooji Karim, said: “Hayat is a fantastic example to others; I often embarrass her by sharing her story but it's one that certainly is inspiring.

“Hayat was not your average athlete, far from it, she was not into sports at all. She only joined taekwondo because of her friends. When there was a quality seen within Hayat, others doubted this quality and questioned her position when called to the fight team.

“With faith from coaches, parent and family, Hayat has achieved over 30 taekwondo fights, outlasted most of her peers on the team, boasts three national championship medals (two of which are gold), a call up from the Pakistan national team to fight at the junior worlds and now, and now a call up from the GB national taekwondo team. Not bad for someone who was scared of Taekwondo and fighting!

“Hayat will be an amazing coach amongst an amazing lineup of Horizon LGA coaches as she is very approachable and kind, yet fierce in determination for training quality.

“We look forward to having her work with us as a teammate and a coach.”