Kulsoom Hazara (born 4 September 1988) is a Pakistani

karateka (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

Background

Hazara is the youngest of four children: three sisters and one brother and belongs to the Hazara community of

Quetta, Balochistan Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of the ...

. She lost her mother to cancer at the age of two and her father to a heart attack at the age of 9. On her father's death, her eldest sister, Fatima and her cousin and brother-in-law, Sarwar Ali became her guardians. In 2000, due to the sectarian violence in her hometown, she shifted to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. The loss of her brother-in-law in 2003, proved traumatic and changed her life. Kulsoom completed 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal, she won a gold and silver medal despite an injury, securing a place as a prominent karateka woman in South Asia.

Career

Her father got her admitted to a karate club owned by Sarwar Ali, when she was five.

National

Hazara initially represented Pakistan Army before switching to WAPDA. She won her first national level gold medal in 2005. Owing to her meritorious achievements, Hazara received 'Icon of the Nation' award in 2017.

International

She represented Pakistan for the first time at the 4th Islamic Women's Games held in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 2005. She came fifth. In 2010, she won her first medals, two bronze at the

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

held in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. In 2012, she was part of the first ever women's team sent to the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asian ...

, which were held in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

. At the 2016 South Asian Karate Championship held in New Delhi, India, she won two medals: a gold and a silver. In the 2017 Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, she won another gold in -68 kg and a bronze in team kumite. In the -68 kg final she defended her title by defeating her opponent by 10 points to 2. In 2018, she participated in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. At the

2019 South Asian Games The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, Hazara won gold in the team kumite event and a silver in the -68 kg event.

Events

Hazara has participated in the following international events: # 4th Islamic Women Games 2005, Tehran, Iran # 10th South Asian Games 2006, Colombo, Sri Lanka # 11th South Asian Games 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh # 11th Senior Cadet AKF (Asian) Championship 2012, Tashkent, Uzbekistan # 17th Asian Games 2014, Incheon, South Korea # 3rd South Asian Karate Championship 2016, New Delhi, India # 4th South Asian karate championship 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka # 4th Islamic Solidarity Game 2017, Baku, Azerbaijan # Karate 1 Premier League 2017, Dubai, UAE # 15th AKF Senior Championship 2018, Amman, Jordan # 18th Asian Games 2018, Jakarta, Indonesia # Karate 1 Series A 2018, Shanghai, China # 13th South Asian Games 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal

Film

In 2018,

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy ( ur, ; born 12 November 1978) is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and activist known for her work in films that highlight the inequality with women. She is the recipient of two Academy Awards, seven Emmy Awar ...

made a short film about her titled, "Kulsoom Hazara - The Karate Wonder"

References

Living people 1988 births South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan South Asian Games silver medalists for Pakistan People from Quetta Sportspeople from Quetta Pakistani people of Hazara descent Hazara sportspeople {{Pakistan-sport-bio-stub