Mehsana (Gujarat)-based shuttler Tasnim Mir, 16, who registered a 21-11, 11-21, 21-7 win over second seed Yulia Yosephine Susanto of Indonesia to claim the women`s singles title at the Iran Fajr International Challenge on Friday, wants to improve her BWF rankings on the senior circuit after her performance here. Mir, who became the first Indian woman shuttler to become junior World No.1 last month, considers this win special as it is her first title in the senior category.
Talking about her win in Iran, the Class XI student of Shri Vardhaman Vidyalaya, Mehsana, Mir told www.mid-day.com, “This win is huge as it is my first senior international title. It is a confidence booster for me.
From here on, my focus will be to improve my rankings in the senior category so that I get to participate in international events more often. I want to win more senior titles now.”
Mir has been training under former India coach Edwin Iriawan from Indonesia at the Assam Badminton Academy in Guwahati for the past three years. Earlier, she was with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA). Mir recalled how she started playing badminton for fun before she got hooked to it. “As my father [Irfan] is a coach, I would accompany him to the stadium every day. I would watch others play and started playing for fun. Once I started winning against players who were bigger than me in age, I started getting confidence,” said Mir, who won the national junior title (U-19) when she was 14. In 2018, she won the U-15, singles and doubles titles at the All-India Sub-Junior ranking tournaments in Hyderabad and Nagpur.
Mir said her ultimate aim is to represent India at the Olympics and win a medal. “After becoming World No.1 in juniors, I now want to do well on the senior circuit and my ultimate aim is to represent India at the Olympics and win a medal for the country,” Mir, whose favourite player is World No.1 Tai Tzu-ying, signed off.
