Kathamndu, August 28. 14-year-old Prapti Batas training and fighting out of Gymkhana Muay Thai won 2 medals at IFMA World Youth Games 2022, Malaysia. IFMA is the sole governing body for Muay Thai recognized by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the Thai Sports Council.
IFMA is considered as the Olympics for Muay Thai. Many great fighters who have made a name for themselves in this sport, started their career from IFMA like Valentina Shevchenko, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Senchai,
IFMA World Youth Games 2022 saw the participation of 1000+ athletes from over 100 countries. Nepal being the only country with a single participant and the only participant who fought the highest number of fights in the week-long event. This was also Nepal’s first participation at IFMA. Nepal fought against Malaysia, Turkey, Russian and China.
Prapti got a Silver Medal at the IFMA Grand Slam (12-15 years) under 51kgs. She also won a Bronze Medal in the (14-15years) 51 kgs category. This is a huge achievement for Nepal considering Prapti has been training for only 16 months at Gymkhana Muay Thai. She is also the current U-16 National Muay Thai Champion in Nepal.
She came in as a regular Muay Thai member but quickly got noticed by the coaches for her extra ordinary abilities. Currently a Grade 9 student, she wishes to continue her training and represent Nepal in the upcoming IFMA Antalya Cup happening from Nov 23-27 in Turkey.
When asked about how she got interested in the sport, she said her father was always encouraging her and her sibling to learn Martial Arts. She also mentioned that she is not satisfied with just silver and hopes to bring the gold medal back home next year.
