Telangana kickboxers seek state support to further international goals: Harsha & Naisha prove their mettle at national level
Meet 30-year-old Harsha Ratnakar and Naisha Bajaj, who are braving the odds to keep the state and country's flag flying. The game does not figure in the list of Olympic sports and as such the boxers are struggling for want of financial support, proper infrastructure and a support system to realise their dream.
Both are part of the Telangana contingent that returned with 21 medals at the recently-concluded National kickboxing championship in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Harsha won the lone gold for the state in the -81kg category and Naisha won a silver in the full contact kickboxing event in the 70+kg category. These medals are one of the many in their impressive trophy cabinet. Both want to represent India in the upcoming World championship scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi in November.
But lack of support from the state is weighing them down.
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'The sport is not treated on a par with other games.
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While the same athletes who won medals along with us are given incentives and promotions in their jobs in states like Tamil Nadu, Punjab or Haryana, we hardly get any recognition,' rued Harsha, who works as a junior assistant in Commercial Taxes department in the city.
Harsha, who took up the sport as a 16-year-old inspired by action movies and WWE, made a mark at the state and national meets before he took a six-year break to focus on preparing for the UPSC exam.
He then won six consecutive gold medals at the state level and two gold and a bronze in Nationals on his comeback in 2022. He also won two silver and a bronze in the international events — Indian Open International Championship in 2022, 2024 and 2025 editions.
Harsha and Naisha train with coach Suresh Patil at the Iskimos Kickboxing Academy in Somajiguda and they said their hopes of representing India in the World championship look remote in the current scenario.
'To compete in an international tournament abroad, we need at least Rs 2 to 3 lakh per tournament. If it is an international event in India, we need around Rs 80,000. We are spending from our pocket now to compete in Nationals and other tournaments in the country.
But we want to win medals for the country abroad,' said Naisha, who was pushed into the sport in 2014 by her fitness-conscious mother. Naisha was just seven then.
Naisha also boasts of an impressive medal haul — gold at the 3rd and 4th Indian International championship in 20204 and 2025 and a silver from the same event in 2022.
Both Harsha and Naisha hope kickboxing will be in the Olympic fold so that they can win medals for the country. Till then, they are ready to battle inside and outside the ring.
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