Score it a perfect 10: Liyara Mananayaka is taking taekwondo by storm as a fourth grader
If Liyara Mananayaka keeps this up, she’ll have enough frequent flyer miles to go anywhere she wants.
The 10-year-old George G. Dodge Intermediate School fourth grader started her journey in taekwondo five years ago and has enough trophies to fill a small warehouse.
Already an Ohio state champion in creative forms for her division – girls 9-10, second- and third- degree black belts), she’ll head to Ft. Wayne, Ind., for the Mid-America District Championships on June 17-18 and then fly out to Phoenix from July 11-17 for the American Taekwondo Association World Championships.
“I always wanted her to get into some kind of martial arts,” her mother Aruni Mananayaka said. “The ATA in Twinsburg was the closest one to us. I called them to get her in. From the first day she just loved it and she’s still at it.”
Liyara Mananayaka is a fast learner
Aruni is being modest about the Twinsburg sensation.
Liyara was a first-degree black belt by the age of eight and earned her second-degree black belt in January.
After competing in the Tiger division until she was seven, she now trains under ATA Cleveland Martial Arts owner Donna Papa and works one-on-one with Ariel Woldman, both fifth-degree black belts.
At her first national event in Las Vegas in April, Liyara finished second in extreme forms and creative weapons and was third in extreme weapons and creative forms. She finished tied for third in traditional weapons but lost the tiebreaker and placed fourth overall.
“Liyara’s nature is very calm and quiet,” Aruni said. “She’s very shy, but when she steps on that mat, she takes on a completely different personality. She’s really competitive. That’s when I saw she was really serious about it. As soon as she steps onto that mat, her fierceness comes out.
“Nothing happened for two years because of COVID, but once the ATA started back up in September, it was her very first time in the competition division. That’s when she could go for titles. My husband Kavinda and I are really surprised and proud of how she is doing.”
They should be.
Medal mania
After seven months of non-stop tournaments, she wrapped up the season with 99 medals and trophies and the state title and qualified for the aforementioned district championships where 10 competitors will compete.
“She swims and dances at the same time, but I feel like taekwondo is her thing,” Aruni said. “She just loves it and keeps going. We try to support her as much as we can. She’s a straight A student and is in the gifted program, too, but so far she’s managing it.”
Liyara is ranked in the top 10 in the world standings in six events and is looking forward to what should be a very busy summer.
“She’s working really hard with her instructors to get that district title,” Aruni said. “She has a very good shot.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Already a second-degree black belt, Liyara Mananayaka is success story
