Selling vegetables on the roadside in Topkhana Bazar, here, in Lucknow, along with her parents, is still the “free time fun” for Mumtaz Khan, 18, and her six sisters. Whenever she comes home and gets time, she helps her parents with the vend.
“I enjoy doing this even now as this business has been taking care of my family of 10, and I feel proud to have learnt the art of fighting against odds because of this,” said Mumtaz, on Monday, soon after getting selected for India for the upcoming Women’s Junior World Cup, scheduled to be played in South Africa from December 5.
“My struggle keeps reminding me of the tough days, and I am thankful to my parents, who did everything for me to become a hockey player. Now, it’s my time to give them back some pride so I will try to help the team finish on the podium in South Africa, because a medal around my neck will be the biggest gift to my parents,” said Mumtaz (her name means excellent).
Forward Mumtaz was forced to play hockey in 2014 by coaching couple Neelam Siddiqui and Rashid Siddiqui at the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium. While running at the stadium one fine evening, Neelam asked Mumtaz to play hockey and she refused flatly. But after being “forced” on the following day she held the hockey stick and tried some hits.
{{/usCountry}}Forward Mumtaz was forced to play hockey in 2014 by coaching couple Neelam Siddiqui and Rashid Siddiqui at the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium. While running at the stadium one fine evening, Neelam asked Mumtaz to play hockey and she refused flatly. But after being “forced” on the following day she held the hockey stick and tried some hits.
{{/usCountry}}“It changed my life forever. Madam and her husband literally compelled me to continue playing and they even filled my form for the admission in the hockey hostel in 2014,” recalled Mumtaz. “I was scolded and slapped several times to play correctly, and those lessons are still the best education to me in the game.”
Mumtaz, who scored 10 goals to help India win the silver medal at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics in 2018, was so good at dribbling and hitting that she made it to the junior India camp within a year, in 2015, and thereafter, she didn’t look back before being seriously injured in 2019 during junior India tour to Ireland.
She also won a bronze medal at the girls’ under-18 Asia Cup in 2016, silver at the Six-Nations Invitational Tournament in 2018, and the coveted gold medal at the Cantor Fitzgerald under-21 International Four-Nations tournament last year.
“While tackling a ball between the goalposts, I twisted my right knee and it forced me into rehabilitation for almost seven months. I had lost hope but Hockey India took good care of me at Bengaluru,” said Mumtaz, who said the success of the Indian men’s and women’s teams at the Tokyo Olympics has been a great inspiration to her.
“Now everyone talks about hockey. Both men and women teams did great at Tokyo and we all draw inspiration from their success,” she said, adding, “Now it’s time for the junior men and women to win medals for the country at the upcoming World Cups. That would be the real tribute to the success of our seniors.”
Mumtaz’s father Hafeez was over the moon when came to know about his daughter’s selection for the World Cup. “It’s all God’s grace and Mumtaz’s hard work. I am really proud of her,” he said on Monday.
His family had to stay without food for some time to support Mumtaz’s dream of playing hockey, Hafeez reminisced. “We are hoping for ‘acche din’ (good days) soon as Mumtaz’s success at the junior level will help her make it into the senior side,” said her sister, Farah, who is the brain behind Mumtaz’s entry into the game.
“Her (Mumtaz’s) passion for sport is something different. She doesn’t skip her training even today when she is in Lucknow on a vacation,” said her coach Neelam.