Meet Tasnim Mir, the 16 Year Indian Badminton Champion to become World No. 1

By: Sruthi, Writer, WomenEntrepreneurIndia

Sport brings people from all over the world together and connects to youngsters and teenagers. It brings individuals together from all around the world, regardless of their national or cultural backgrounds. It instils collaboration, self-reliance, and resilience in women and girls; has a multiplier effect on their health, education, and leadership development; boosts self-esteem; stimulates social connections; and combats antagonistic gender traditions.

Since the turn of the century, the number of Indian female athletes competing on the global platform has increased dramatically. Karnam Malleswari, a well-known Indian weightlifter, won bronze in Sydney in 2000, being the first Indian woman to accomplish so.

Karnam Malleswari may not have stood on the top step of the podium, but she offered the country something far more valuable: the trust in Indian women athletes that they, too, can bring the country great honour.

Sports 2021 : A Quick Recap

The year 2021 reaffirmed the determination of female athletes. Mithali Raj, the captain of India's women's national cricket team, is the world's second female player to have scored 10,000 runs in women's international cricket, and the first Indian batter to do so. P V Sindhu, the defending world champion, finished third in badminton in Tokyo in 2021, five years after earning silver in Rio. Purnima Pandey, an 18-year-old Indian weightlifter, set eight national records on her way to gold in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in the women's +87kg division. Lovlina Borgohain is the third Indian boxer to win gold in Tokyo in 2021. Avani Lekhara, a law student from northern Rajasthan, is the country's first woman to win several Paralympic gold medals. Indian archer Deepika Kumari has captured the leading position in the global rankings for women's recurve archery after winning three gold medals at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 tournament.

New Badminton Sensation of 2022: Tasnim Mir

In a country where cricket is a religion, badminton is drawing more sport aficionados, equipment providers, and business savvy sponsors owing to players like Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, Jwala Gutta, and Parupalli Kashyap frequently winning international events. Similarly, Tasnim Mir, 16, has written a new chapter in the history of Indian badminton. She has risen to the pinnacle of the Under-19 women's singles world rankings. Tasnim Mir, a Gujarat native, has been playing badminton since she was seven years old. Her father, Irfan Mir, a badminton coach and assistant sub-inspector in the Gujarat Police, is credited with this achievement. He used to bring Tasnim with him to the training facility. Tasmin eventually developed an interest in the game and began to defeat opponents considerably superior than herself. She quickly rose through the ranks, finally becoming the state's sub-junior champion.

Training at Glance

Tasnim began training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad in 2017, where she stayed for three years. She was relocated to Guwahati's Assam Badminton Academy. Ayan Rashid, his mixed-double partner, was already training there.

Tasnim is presently training in the senior level. Her current coach is Edwin Iriyavan of Indonesia.

"I will completely focus on the senior circuit from now on and am looking forward to playing in Iran and Uganda next month. My aim now is to improve my senior ranking. If I can weave some good performances and get into the top 200 by the end of the year that would be great", said Mir.

Tasmin Mir's father, Irfan Mir, is a badminton instructor and an assistant sub-inspector with the Mehsana Police Department. Irfan also owns and operates a teaching centre in Mehsana, Gujarat. Tasnim should be a member of India's senior team, according to him.

Achievements Galore

Tasnim won the U-15 singles and doubles championships in the All-India Sub-Junior ranking events in Hyderabad and Nagpur in 2018.

After taking a year off, Tasnim played in Russia's Badminton World Junior Championship, and she also won the Asian U-17 and U-15 Junior Championships in Indonesia that year.

She won the President Cup Nepal Junior International Series in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2020.

Throughout Seasons 2021-22, the star has undergone several transformations. The player won the Bulgarian Junior Championships, the Alpes International, and the Belgian Junior Championships in addition to representing India in the Thomas and Uber Cups.

Mir has risen to the top of the world Under 19 Girls Singles rankings in 2022. She is the first woman from India to accomplish this accomplishment. Even veteran players like PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal have never risen to the top of the junior rankings. Tasnim won this title with a total score of 10,081 points.

She expressed her pleasure, “I can't say that I expected this. I thought I would not be able to become no 1 as tournaments were getting affected by COVID-19 but I won three events in Bulgaria, France and Belgium. So I am really excited and happy that finally I could become the world no 1. It is a great moment for me.”

Women in sports, or sports for women, are no different than sports for men, and India, as a sports fan, recognises when things are done correctly. As a result, athletics has offered a fantastic platform for individuals to exhibit their potential, as well as assisted in altering people's thinking and views, and has encouraged the participation of many excellent athletes.