Marin fan Tasnim credits father’s sacrifice after win
PUNE: “I really like Carolina Marin. She’s so aggressive! I like the way she screams on court! Even I like to shout a lot!” Of the thousand reasons the Spanish Olympic champion would have thought she would inspire the next generation, this aspect might not be one. But that is what has attracted Tasnim Mir the most, besides the deceptive shots of her icon Tai Tzu Ying.
The 13-year-old Tasnim, who held her nerves to beat Uttar Pradesh’s Mansi Singh 23-21, 21-17 to clinch gold in the girls U-17 category at the Khelo India Youth Games here on Sunday, is a product of the Gopichand Academy.
Born in Mehsana, Gujarat, Tasnim shifted to Hyderabad a couple of years ago. She now goes to her native place only to write her exams. The Class IX student of Shri Sarvajanik Vidyalaya takes tuitions in Hyderabad to keep her education going but there’s no formal schooling anymore. “It gets hard while leaving home but after going back (to Hyderabad), it’s fun as I have a number of friends,” she said.
Having clinched the U-15 singles and doubles titles in sub-junior rankings tournaments in Hyderabad and Nagpur, Tasnim ended 2018 on a high by winning the U-15 and U-17 singles titles in Raipur in October. More than the gold on Sunday, Tasnim was happier to have overcome Mansi, who beat her in an U-19 tournament in Jaipur last year.
How did a girl from a remote place in Mehsana end up in the country’s most prestigious badminton academy? According to Tasnim, it happened after January, 2016 when she beat Meghana Reddy — another academy product and now her partner with whom she won gold at the Asia U-15 Championships in October — in a tournament in Hyderabad. Though she was asked to join the academy, she didn’t until the next year when she got a scholarship under the Shaktidoot scheme of the Sports Authority of Gujarat and shifted to Hyderabad.
FATHER’S SACRIFICE
It was her father Irfan Ali Mir who helped shape the promising talent she is today. A head constable in Mehsana, Irfan is also a coach at the Police Badminton Academy where Tasnim was given her first badminton lessons. Her nine-year-old brother also plays the sport. “Since my father was a badminton player and we always saw him coaching others, we never got attracted to any other sport. He didn’t take promotion so that he can stick to Mehsana and coach me.”