19-year-old Lakshadweep's Mubassina conquers odds to stake claim as a rising talent
Ranchi (PTI): The far-flung and inaccessible Lakshadweep islands have no proper stadium and track-and-field athletes there run on mud tracks. Despite the lack of infrastructure, 19-year-old Mubassina Mohammed, daughter of a coconut plucker, has become the first international athlete from the Union Territory and is fast emerging as a top long jumper in the country.
Mubassina, who is representing the country in the SAAF Senior Championships here, has defied all odds, including financial hardships and lack of facilities in the tiny Union Territory, which measures around 32 square kilometres and has a population of less than 70,000.
Mubassina became Lakshadweep's first international track-and-field athlete when she competed in the 2022 Asian U18 Championships in Kuwait, where she clinched a silver medal each in long jump and heptathlon.
She had won gold in the National U23 Championships earlier this month with a jump of 6.36m, though World Athletics has not recognised the mark due to lack of wind speed measurement.
Mubassina has also done 6.30m while winning gold in the National U20 Championships, which has put her in the top-six among Indian long jumpers this season. She recently came under the tutelage of the country's top horizontal jump coach Robert Bobby George who runs an academy in Bengaluru with his wife and long jump legend Anju.
"The whole of Lakshadweep has no proper stadium. There is no synthetic track for running and no 400m track. I am from Minicoy Island which has one 200m mud track for running," Mubassina told PTI in an interview.
"If it rains, we can't run on the mud track and do long jump. Also, if people play football, which is the most popular sport in Lakshadweep, in that lone ground, we hardly get space for long jump practice or running," said the youngster who has also qualified for next year's World U20 Championships.
Athletics has been in the blood of Mubassina's family as his father Mohammed used to do long-distance running in his young age, including 'mini marathon' races organised in the Union Territory with prize money.
"My father is a coconut climber/plucker. People call him to pluck coconuts and pay him for the service. He also used to run mini-marathon races and get prize money. Even I ran a 6km race when I was in class V and got prize money," she said with a smile.
"We have a small tea stall which my mother -- Dubina Banu -- runs to sustain our family."
Mubassina's childhood coach Ahmed Jawad Hassan is based in Lakshadweep's capital Kavaratti but she couldn't travel due to lack of transport facilities. So, the family shifted base to Kavaratti for nearly two years so that she could train under Hassan.
"There is only one ferry/shift in a day to go to Kavaratti. So, you can't go there and return the same day. But I need to do training. So, my parents decided that all of us will shift to Kavaratti for two years.
"My sister and two younger twin brothers took school admission there and I also did my class XI and XII in Kavaratti."
After that Mubassina shifted to Kerala and trained at the National Centre of Excellence in Thiruvananthapuram for one-and-half years, before joining the Anju Bobby George Foundation.
Under Hassan, she competed in heptathlon and long jump. But this year, she is focussing only on long jump.
In between, she went to Kerala to study and train but soon came back as she could not adjust to the food and conditions there.
Joining horizontal jump specialist coach Robert Bobby George
Robert came to know of Mubassina's talent through some friends in Lakshadweep. The UT administration also contacted him and recommended her name. Robert told her to join his academy two years back but she was hesitant as she was young and wary of staying away from home.
"She called me one day from Trivandrum that she's the lone girl in jumps group there. We have the best female team with us right now. So the idea was to introduce her to the best coaching methodologies at an early stage of her career.
"I told her, okay, six months there will be an observation camp. It's not only the motor qualities, we have to also check the attitude of an athlete whether she's ready for long-term business," said Robert.
"We have certain parameters, one is physical characteristics, second is the attitude. We measure both."
Robert came to know of her for the first time in Bhopal in the national U18 championships.
"She is talented, but still fragile. You have to take care (of her) under strict supervision. Some athletes are matured and they can handle things. But she's not (at) that stage. In the next six months I have to make her trainable.
"We have started investigations on her, like biochemistry test, bio-mechanical analysis and other lab tests one by one. The next two years will be a challenge for her. Once it's stabilised and she is 22 or so, it will be okay for her."
Robert also plans to travel to Lakshadweep in December to meet Mubassina's parents and have a first-hand understanding of the conditions she grew up in.
"From such a small island, somebody is coming to the international stage. So I'm happy that I've been instrumental in supporting her," he added
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
