Westborough student wins gold at karate championship

387

Nisha Balaji with her medals (Photo/submitted)
Nisha Balaji with her medals (Photo/submitted)

Westborough – Nisha Balaji, age 9, a student of Massdojo Westborough, won the first-place gold medal at the National Karate Championship for the second year in a row. Nisha completed third grade at Annie E. Fales Elementary School and will attend Mill Pond School in the fall.

Nisha is one of the youngest member of the Massdojo National Karate Team to win gold at the USA National Karate-do Federation National Championships July 14-17 in Pittsburgh. She received her gold in kumite (sparring) in the 9-year-old novice division. Nisha also won gold in team kumite (sparring), silver in team kata (forms) and silver in mixed team kata.

“We started Nisha on karate last year for self-defense and to help build confidence,” explained her father, Ashwin Venkatesan. “Sensei Eric and Massdojo team have been phenomenal in making karate enjoyable and teaching her skills that she can take into the real world. We have seen transformational changes in her to being more focused, confident and competitive.”

Nisha trained alongside her father, who is also a member of the team.

No posts to display