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BHOPAL: At a nationalist campy successful the city, Nausheen Naz, 15, trains alongside probables who ain aggregate kits. Naz borrows gear. Her begetter Ahfaz Khan, a daily-wager earning astir Rs 250 a day, cannot bargain her a due hockey stick.
No kit. No information net.But the miss from Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni is India’s astir breathtaking women’s hockey guardant prospect, closing successful connected a spot successful the Under-18 Asia Cup squad for Japan from May 29.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Four years ago, her travel began successful a cramped, roofless rented shack successful Seoni, astir 380km southeast of Bhopal. A discarded, breached hockey instrumentality became her tool. “Without complaining, she tied it with a cloth, tied it again erstwhile it split, and kept playing,” said Khan, 48.
Nausheen’s lone goal: To play for India
Breakthrough came successful 2023 erstwhile MP Hockey Academy spotted her. Training, diet, instrumentality — each followed. “The academy has been her lifeline, providing cogwheel and grooming that I couldn’t,” said her father.Dreams rapidly turned into numbers. At 16th sub-junior women’s nationalist title successful Bihar’s Rajgir earlier this month, Naz tore done defences — 9 goals, apical scorer, subordinate of the final. Khan watched, overwhelmed.
“I shed tears seeing her today,” helium said. Once unsure astir her pursuit due to the fact that of crushing poverty, helium present stands steadfast against societal pushback implicit her grooming attire. “If anyone stops my daughter, they’ll look maine first.”Naz is 1 of 7 siblings. Hunger, space, and wealth stay regular constraints. Yet endowment and dedication support forcing doors open. Her younger sister Sabarika has entered the academy aft endowment hunts.India’s hockey communicative has agelong drawn spot from tiny towns and hard ground. From dusty fields to nationalist camps, galore of its finest person risen from humble homes wherever athletics competes with survival. Naz fits that lineage — raw, relentless, unfiltered by privilege. “I person lone 1 goal: to play for the country,” she said, eyes fixed connected the Asia Cup.
