Just before her bout, when Nivedha Srinivasan saw her Greek opponent, Barmpouti Androniki, do a full split on the floor, it gave her the chills. “I was scared. I saw how flexible she is. I can’t do a full split,” says Nivedha over a call from Istanbul where she has just won a silver in the Light Contact category and bronze in Kick Light category at the WAKO Seventh International Turkish Open Kickboxing World Cup — 2022. The 14-year-old from Chennai is the only girl from India to win medals at the recently-concluded event.
A gold was what she wanted. All her focus was on winning. In fact, so much that when the Indian contingent went out to explore the charming city of Istanbul, Nivedha chose to stay back at the hotel and prepare.
