Creating an example for the entire world, an only Indian woman and the first from Jammu and Kashmir has been selected as the judge for upcoming Asian Games.
Beating all odds, Bilquis Mir, 33 has been appointed as the Judge of the 19th Asian Games to be held in China. Bilquis is the first water sports coach from Srinagar and the first Olympic-level women’s kayaking and canoeing player from the Kashmir region.
Now she has made every one proud as she will be the judge in for Asian Games which will take place in September. It is for the second time that Bilquis will judge international players in kayaking and canoeing at such a big sporting event of world.
Bilquis said that for her it’s a dream come true and added that she started her career in 1998 at Dal Lake and had represented Jammu and Kashmir for a decade and was a part of the world championships. She further added that she is thankful to God for giving her this opportunity.
She further said that she had struggled a lot and has reached this height after a lot of hardwork. Bilquis had started practices of kayaking and canoeing in world famous Dal Lake of Kashmir but it was not at all easy for her to peruse her dream. She said that she had to face a lot of criticism when she started practice of kayaking and canoeing game as people use to tease her for opting a game which they think was meant for males only, but her mother stood behind her as a rock and helped her achieve her dreams.
She further said that she had a dream of becoming a judge at an international sports event, as saw a very small number of girls at these events as she always use to see men in those teams, and then she promised herself that she would be in the decision-making team for these events. “If there is any big event after the Olympics, it’s the Asian Games. I am extremely happy about this, “said Bilquis.
Apart from being a top player she played an important role in promoting water sports among budding Kashmiri players. She has trained many national and international water sports players for country.
