Muay Thai: Danyal Farooq takes world title

Danyal Farooq with his head coach Jaman and corner man Norshad

Rochdale student Danyal Farooq has won the world title in Thai boxing after competing in Coventry on 15 October.

Danyal, 13, competed against a French opponent in the S3 world title junior championship Muay Thai boxing.

It was a tough and stressful day for Danyal, who weighed in above his weight class, and was subsequently told he needed to get his weight down or the French fighter would take the title by default.

Determined not to give up, Danyal had three hours to make weight – which he did by running around the venue and hitting a city centre gym.

Having made his weight by 2.30pm but having just two hours before his fight, Danyal grabbed the first thing he had eaten all day. However, he complained of his legs being tired, so his coach Jaman Chowdhury and the corner man began to massage his legs so he could recover.

Once in the fight, he won all five one-minute rounds to be crowned the champ.

Danyal’s mum said: “Danyal won because he had his mum and team Impact encouraging him all the way, but most importantly, he had a strong mind not to give up.”

The Oulder Hill pupil has trained at Impact Gym since he was seven. He trains under Jaman Chowdhury