BHOPAL: At a national camp in the city, Nausheen Naz, 15, trains alongside probables who own multiple kits. Naz borrows gear. Her father Ahfaz Khan, a daily-wager earning about Rs 250 a day, cannot buy her a proper hockey stick. No kit. No safety net.But the girl from Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni is India’s most exciting women’s hockey forward prospect, closing in on a spot in 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 journey began in a cramped, roofless rented shack in Seoni, around 380km southeast of Bhopal. A discarded, broken hockey stick became her tool. “Without complaining, she tied it with a cloth, tied it again when it split, and kept playing,” said Khan, 48.
Nausheen’s only goal: To play for India
Breakthrough came in 2023 when MP Hockey Academy spotted her. Training, diet, equipment — all followed. “The academy has been her lifeline, providing gear and training that I couldn’t,” said her father.Dreams quickly turned into numbers. At 16th sub-junior women’s national championship in Bihar’s Rajgir earlier this month, Naz tore through defences — nine goals, top scorer, player of the final. Khan watched, overwhelmed.“I shed tears seeing her today,” he said. Once unsure about her pursuit because of crushing poverty, he now stands firm against social pushback over her training attire. “If anyone stops my daughter, they’ll face me first.”Naz is one of seven siblings. Hunger, space, and money remain daily constraints. Yet talent and dedication keep forcing doors open. Her younger sister Sabarika has entered the academy after talent hunts.India’s hockey story has long drawn strength from small towns and hard ground. From dusty fields to national camps, many of its finest have risen from modest homes where sport competes with survival. Naz fits that lineage — raw, relentless, unfiltered by privilege. “I have only one goal: to play for the country,” she said, eyes fixed on the Asia Cup.
Descrease article font size
Increase article font size
A 30-year-old man is dead following a shooting in Toronto’s west end late Friday night, police say.
Toronto Police...
Mumbai: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday signalled fresh Covid-era style policy support to cushion the impact of the West Asia conflict,...
U.S. military forces stopped and boarded a sanctioned tanker carrying oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean overnight, the Pentagon said on Thursday, ramping...
KOLKAT/CHENNAI: Bengal recorded a historic 93.2% turnout in the first phase of assembly elections, while Tamil Nadu's final provisional figure settled at...
The two American officials killed in a car crash last weekend in northern Mexico while returning from a counter-cartel operation did not have formal...
