A COMPETITOR AT HEART
Hafezan was born in Singapore before moving to Paris when she was three for her father’s work.
While her family is based in France, they return to Singapore at least once a year during summer school breaks.
In 2022, she set her sights on securing a place on the national team. She got in touch with the Karate-do Union of Singapore, and would meet and train with coaches whenever she returned.
“For me to be able to qualify, I would send videos (of) my competitions from overseas and they would take it from there. They would tell me if it was good enough … what competitions I needed to participate in,” she said.
“After a while, I think they recognised my discipline and merit, and that’s how I got into the team.”
Hafezan trains with a club in Paris and has participated in the French Cup, which she likened to the Singapore National Karate Championship.
“I guess how I fell in love (with karate) is that I’m a competitor at heart, and just being able to kick and punch – I just really loved it. It was like love at first sight,” she said.
Looking ahead, she has one goal in mind – qualifying for the World Karate Championships.
“It’s been my biggest dream since I was a kid,” she added.
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