SRINAGAR — Kashmiri Female water sports coach Bilquis Mir expressed happiness after being appointed as a judge in the upcoming Asian Games.
Bilquis Mir, the first water sports coach from the Valley, is the only Indian who will perform as a judge in the Asian games that will be held in the month of September in China.
“It’s a dream come true for me. Two days back, I got appointed as a judge in the Asian Games by Asian Games Canoe Federation. This will be my second Asian Games but this one is quite special for me being a girl from Kashmir, who began her career from Dal Lake and finally reached on such a high level as a judge is a big achievement,” Bilquis Mir told ANI.
Bilquis was born in the Khanyar area of Srinagar and she started her schooling at SA Modern school Babar Shah after that, she passed out from Kothi Bagh higher secondary and completed her graduation from women’s college Maulana Azad road Srinagar.
“This is Asia’s highest level competition, covering all the games in the region. In 2007, I gave an exam in Hungary and became the second-best candidate among people from 26 countries. It was a big achievement for me as it is a very high-level exam that tests your knowledge about the game. I was also given a license and with that, I can even go to Olympics,” she added.
Presently Bilquis is an intentional water sports coach and in past, she participated in different national and international championships inside and outside the county.
“I participated in World Cup 2009 and I observed that the judges’ bench would only consist of males. So, this is like a big achievement for me that I have been appointed as the judge and this will bring a big change for our women,” said Bilquis. — (ANI)