Who is Shahin Darjada? Know India's Judo Sensation who hails from 'Mini Africa'

Shahin Darjada, a teenage sensation, has racked a Gold Medal in the Khelo India Youth Games 2023 after an impressive outing in Judo.

Shahin walked away with a gold medal in the 57kg category with a convincing win over Himachal Pradesh's Rupanshi in the final.

Shahin hails from Jambur, which is known as the 'Mini Africa' of India for its Siddi population. They are mainly descendants of the Bantu peoples of African origin, but have been living in the sub-continent for many years now.

There are a couple of more players hailing from the region, situated around 20km from Gir, and has served as a home to the Siddi community, which is of African origin.

Shahin, who recently won a silver medal at the Asian Junior Judo Championship in Tashkent, now has two gold, one silver and one bronze from her four appearances in the Khelo India Youth Games.

"It was an easy bout for me. The opponent did not trouble me as I had experience of four Khelo India competitions. It was my opponent's first Khelo India final. I was in complete control of the bout right from the beginning. Happy that my Khelo India journey comes to an end with a gold," she said after winning the final.

The 18-year-old said her performance started to improve once she shifted to the Vijayi Bharat Sports Academy (VBSA) in Ahmedabad where she started training under Georgian coach, Lasa Kizilashvili in 2022.

Speaking about her future, Kizilashvili said "She trains hard at the academy. She follows every instruction given to her. A promising future lies before her. If you ask me, she is an Olympic material."

A Class 12 student of Somnath Academy in her native village, Shahin is one of the six siblings and counts herself as a fortunate one to have supportive parents. Shahin's father works in the government circuit house while her mother is a housewife.

"It was in 2016 when my father first took me to a sports academy, and I had no clue about which sport to pick. I spent around two years at the DLSS (District Level Sports School) in Rajkot where I finally found judo as an interesting choice, and then got my skills fine-tuned at another academy in Nadiad for the next five years and went on to win my first KIYG gold (in Guwahati)," she recalled.

Last year, she participated in the junior World Championships and that experience helped her pocket the gold medals at the junior National Championships and the Cadet Nationals.

"My coaches Lal Krishnan Baghel and Lasa Kizilashvili have been really supportive, and instrumental in my transformation. I have been able to get international exposure which has boosted my confidence, and gearing up to bag a gold in my final KIYG," she said.

While she has another couple of years in the junior circuit, Shahin has her eyes on the big stage, and hopes to fulfil her parent's wishes by representing India at the highest levels.

(With Inputs from Agency)