Ruqsana Begum
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, England
Other namesWarrior Princess
ResidenceSeven Kings, Ilford, Essex, England
NationalityBritish
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
DivisionAtomweight
StyleMuay Thai Kickboxing
Fighting out ofBethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, London, England
TeamBritish Muay Thai Team
TrainerBill Judd
Years active2008–present
OccupationScience technician
UniversityUniversity of Westminster
Websiteruqsana-begum.com

Ruqsana Begum (born 1983) is an English kickboxer. She is the current British female Atomweight (48–50 kg) Muay Thai boxing Champion and captain of the British Muay Thai Team.

Early life

Begum was born and raised in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, England to a family of Bangladeshi origin. She is the second eldest of four children and lives at home with her family.[1]

After studying at UzSWLU in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 2006, Begum graduated with a degree in Architecture from the University of Westminster. She was a trainee architect and was made redundant after the company she worked for made cuts.[2] She is a part-qualified architect.[3][4]

Career

Boxing

In 2002, at the age of 18, Begum took up a kickboxing class after college.[5] In 2008, she started fighting professionally.[1][2]

In 2009, Begum defeated a Malaysian opponent to win a bronze medal at the World Amateur Kickboxing Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.[2]

On 27 November 2010, in her first final, Begum defeated Paige Farrington to win the British Muay Thai Atomweight Kickboxing Championship Professional title from the Duel at the Dome contest in Doncaster.[2][4]

On 31 July 2011, Begum won a gold medal at the European Club Cup Amateur Muay Thai Championship in Latvia.[3] She beat a Finnish fighter to secure her place in the final and beat a Turkish fighter in the final to be awarded gold.[6]

On 6 September 2012, Begum was nominated as British Muay Thai Team Captain and won bronze at the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) World Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia. On 9 September 2012, she beat Ranini Cundasawmy from Mauritius in the quarter-final, before losing her semi-final match, on 11 September 2012, against the European Champion, Chyslova Liudmila, from Belarus who proceeded to win silver.[4][7][8][9][10][11]

On 13 April 2013, Begum fought Silvia La Notte from Italy at the New Bingley Hall in Birmingham for the International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) World Championship.[7] Although Begum was leading on points, during the 4th round the fight was abandoned after she took a knock to the head.

Begum trains under Bill Judd,[3][12] and currently fights out of the KO Gym in Bethnal Green, London.[5]

Other commitments

On top of her own professional commitments, Begum is a personal trainer and instructor. She also works as an instructor one night a week[3] giving free after-school[1][2] Muay Thai classes every Monday at the Lions Den Gym in Chadwell Heath, London.[13] for the children in the East End.[5]

She works part-time, two days a week, as a science technician at Swanlea School in Whitechapel, London.[2][3]

She is also coach at “Fight for Peace,” a charity which uses boxing as a prevention and rehabilitation model to confront the problem of child and youth participation in crime, gangs and gun violence within disadvantaged communities.[4][5][14][15]

Awards and recognition

In May 2012, Begum was shortlisted for the Muslim Women’s in Sport Foundation Ambassador Awards for the United Kingdom Sportswoman of the Year award held at Wembley Stadium.[16][17][18][19][20]

In January 2012, she was named in the “British Bangladeshi Power 100” for her work in education, culture and sports.[13][21] In February 2012, she won a special achievement award at the Canary Wharf Sports Awards.[22][23]

Personal life

In March 2012, Begum met Queen Elizabeth II at Walthamstow Town Hall, during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour of the UK.[24]

After being selecting to be an Olympic torchbearer in recognition of her sporting achievements and community work, helping young people to engage in sports and giving them a focus in life[5] in the East London community.[25] On 21 July 2012, she carried the Olympic Torch in Greenwich, London.[26][27]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Lennon, Patrick (25 March 2011). "Ruqsana Begum: Kicking And Dreaming". Bangladesh: The Daily Star. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Munford, Colin (9 December 2010). "Ruqsana gets her kicks from sport". Iford: Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e Richards, Joshua (11 August 2011). "Euro Thai-boxing champion Ruqsana Begum suffering from lack of funding". Ilford: Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Ahmed Ully, Ansar (19 September 2012). "Kick-boxer Ruqsana wins bronze". Bangladesh: The Daily Star. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e Buara, Elham Asaad (29 June 2012). "In conversation with…Ruqsana Begum". The Muslim News. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Ruqsana and Ash bring back medals at European Championships". KO Muay Thai. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b Richards, Joshua (13 September 2012). "Brilliant Begum bags bronze medal". Ilford: Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "ilfordrecorder3" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ Richards, Joshua (13 September 2012). "Brilliant Begum bags bronze medal". London: Ham & High. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Richards, Joshua (13 September 2012). "Brilliant Begum bags bronze medal". London: London24. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "More GB Success at the Muaythai World Championships". Women Sport Report. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "More GB Success at the Muaythai World Championships". Women Sport Report. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Razzaq, Mahvish (4 September 2012). "Muay Thai Champion Ruqsana Begum is going for gold". Asiana TV. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b Richards, Joshua (3 February 2012). "Ilford's British Muay-Thai boxing champion set for 02 Arena bout". Norwich: Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "edp24" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ Rahman, Emdad (21 July 2012). "Sparring with the Atomweight". London: East London News. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Walter, Glen (10 October 2012). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Ruqsana Begum – British Muay Thai Champion". FitMeNow. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Shortlist". Muslim Women's Sport Foundation. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "(UK) MWSF announce Ambassador Awards shortlist". Kick It Out. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Muslim Women's awards". The FA. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Patel, Holly (11 April 2012). "Awards: First Ambassador Awards night for Muslim women". Sport Sister. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "Shorlist Announced". The Asian World. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "British Atomweight Muay-Thai boxing champion – Ruqsana Begum". British Bangladeshi Power 100. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  22. ^ "O'Brien gives back". West Ham United. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Hayes, Simon (3 February 2012). "Table tennis star Ashley wins Canary Wharf award". London: Wharf. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ "Diamond Jubilee: Queen visits three London boroughs". BBC News. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite news)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ "Ruqsana Begum". London 20120. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "Olympic Torch Relay through Royal Greenwich". Royal Borough of Greenwich. 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ "Torch Relay through Royal Greenwich". Royal Borough of Greenwich. 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

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