Maham Aftab (5 November 1994 – 23 October 2020) was an international taekwondo practitioner and a member of the Pakistan national taekwondo team. ^{[1] [2] [3]} She won several medals for Pakistan at national and international level. ^[1] She died of brain tumor. ^[2]

Background

She belonged to Vehari, a city in Punjab, Pakistan. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Career

Aftab represented Pakistan in the Youth Olympics held in Indonesia. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} Aftab won a gold medal in a taekwondo championship at the King Al-Hasan Cup in Jordan. ^{[2] [7] [8] [4] [12] [13] [14] [11]} In 2008, Aftab participated in World Championship in Izmir where she reached the final. She was defeated in the final by Stele Simunic of Croatia. ^{[7] [8]} In 2009, she took part in Asian Championships in Kish Island, Iran. ^{[7] [8]} In 2010, Aftab participated in the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 ^{[7] [4] [15] [16]} and also in the Youth Olympics in 2014. ^{[17] [18] [14]} Aftab quit taekwondo in 2015. ^{[2] [7] [16]} She became the first female athlete to win a medal for Pakistan in an international competition. ^[4] Aftab also represented Pakistan Army and was the national champion for seven consecutive years. ^{[19] [20] [5]}

Death

She was diagnosed with brain tumor two months before her death. ^[6] She died on 23 October 2020 ^[2] at the age of 25 ^{[21] [10]} in Islamabad. ^[22] She was under treatment at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Lahore before her death ^[8] and was discharged a few days before. ^[22] Her death was condoled by various members of the sports fraternity. ^{[23] [8] [24]} She was laid to rest in her hometown Vehari. ^[25] She left behind a two-year-old son. ^[25]

References