Princeton Teen Becomes Taekwondo World Champion

Ananth Balasubramanian, 15, of Princeton, has been named the TaeKwondo World Champion in the Second and Third Degree Black Belt division.

The soon-to-be Princeton High School sophomore earned his title at the American Taekwondo Association’s World Championship Tournament  June 21-24 in Little Rock, Ark.

Balasubramanian, who trains with Susan Winter at Princeton Martial Arts, walked away with the gold medal in combat weapons sparring. He also earned a silver medal in traditional point sparring.  

"It was a great moment for him and for us, we (the family) were all there," said his mother, Jay Balasubramanian. 

The annual ATA World Championships, a weeklong celebration of Taekwondo, drew more than 20,000 martial art students, instructors and fans from nearly 20 countries for training seminars, high rank belt testing and World Champion competition.  

Ananth Balasubramanian started with Taekwondo at age 7 and began competing in World Championships last year. 

“Literally every weekend we are traveling, if not, three weekends a month,” his mother said. “He has the drive, he’s very competitive and it was just a matter of finding the right program.”

Ananth Balasubramanian is not the only Taekwondo enthusiast in the family.

Jay Balasubramanian is a red belt, her husband Murali is a brown belt and daughter Adithi, 9, is a black belt first degree. Murali’s mother, Jaya Balasubramanian is a brown belt.

Ananth Balasubramanian is also the New Jersey state champion for traditional forms and combat sparring, his mother said”

His sister and his mother also hold several New Jersey state championship titles for Taekwondo.

Ananth Balasubramanian also has other interests including playing alto sax in the PHS jazz ensemble, track, baseball and soccer.

Next he may be interested in becoming a Taekwondo instructor, his mother said.