Asian bronze-medallist Rupa Bayor has become India’s first taekwondo player to be ranked as high as eighth in the latest world rankings, rising a rung from her previous career-best standing.

The 24-year-old from Arunachal Pradesh had won a bronze medal in poomsae, a non-combative form of taekwondo in which competitors perform a pattern of moves like gymnastics routines, at the World Taekwondo President Cup Europe held in Innsbruck, Austria, from November 29 to 30.

Bayor had also won a bronze at the Australia Open Taekwondo Tournament in August. Poomsae is currently a non-Olympic category format, but features in the Asian Games.

Bayor, who trains at the Indo Korean Taekwondo Academy in Mumbai, was inducted into the Target Asian Games Group (TAGG) of the Union Sports Ministry in April. She is the only Indian in the Top 100 of the world rankings across categories.

Also read: Meet the Indian CM with a Taekwondo black belt