by Deepanshu Srivastava
Along a narrow dirty street at Topkhana Bazaar in Lucknow ( UP ) there lived parents of five daughters. Mother Qaiser Jahan and father Hafeez used to look after their family from the income they earned by selling vegetables from a vegetable cart. One of the daughters, Mumtaz Khan was passionate about running and playing hockey since childhood. Her mother was dead against her daughter wasting her time running and playing hockey as she wanted her to help them at their vegetable shop.
She was also not happy that her girl child should play a game meant for boys. Mumtaz found her way out by practicing only in her school and helping her parents after school hours to carry on with her passion. Her hockey journey began accidentally in 2011 when some selected students including Mumtaz were sent to take part in an athletics competition in Agra. Mumtaz ran her heart out and topped in the running events. Impressed by her deer-like speeds and energy level, the coach Neelam Siddique decided to groom her in the skills of hockey as speed and energy are the two important ingredients to excel in the game of hockey. She, therefore, decided to get Mumtaz admitted to KD Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow. With her hard – work and dedication, she impressed all the coaches and was selected for a fellowship program. Under the guidance of expert coaches in hockey, she acquired mastery over dribbling the ball and giving and taking small passes. Her career with the Indian team in Under – 18 Asian Cup got a boost when India won the – Bronze and then in the Under – 18 Youth – Olympics India won the – Silver medal. Playing in the – Forward position her goals made India achieve these two big successes. But her best was yet to come. Having played more than 40 matches at the international level she was selected for the Indian junior hockey team as a center forward. The Indian team took part in the 2022 FIH Women’s hockey junior World Cup held in South Africa from April 1 to April 12. Readers, let us have a look over the matches played at this prestigious tournament.#. WOMEN’S HOCKEY JUNIOR WORLD CUP – In the biennial tournament, a total of 16 teams qualified for the final leg of the tournament. India was in the Pool – D along with Germany, Wales, and Malaysia. India topped its pool with 09 points, followed by Germany with 06 points. Both of them qualified for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final, India beat South Korea by 3 – 0, with the first goal scored by Mumtaz. Mumtaz was also adjudged the – ” Player Of The Match “. India could not enter the final, as theDutch beat India by 3 – 0 in the first semi-finals. For the third and fourth positions, India clashed with England. The match got tied with a score of 2 – 2. For India, Mumtaz scored both the goals. The match was decided by the penalty – shootouts, in which India lost by 0 – 3. It was strange that Mumtaz was not given to hit any one of the three penalty shots and India had to satisfy at the Number 4.Mumtaz was only the third top-scorer with a total of 08 goals in her kitty after the two players from The Netherlands with 13 and 11 goals.It is rightly said that – ” The winners never quit and the quitters never win ” ( Vince Lombardi ), and if one dreams big there are people to help out. Thus a girl from a BPL family has proven to her parents that every cloud has a silver lining. For India, a newsensation in women’s hockey has been born.
About the Author:
A keen sports writer and a storyteller, Deepanshu Srivastava is a freelance journalist from Pune.
Good written article on Indian junior hockey team progress in International events and contribution of a BPL family girl – Mumtaz No doubt a new sensation in Indian Women’s hockey team has been born.
Thanks to author for bringing such good news on budding hockey player of the country.