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Wednesday, 26 October 2005 |
Sania Mirza breaks traditional barriers
After rapidly going from anonymity into the hearts of her nation in
only 10 months, India's teenage tennis phenomena Sania Mirza was become
caught up in a cultural protest for breaking with traditions by being a
Muslim athlete.
18-year-old Sania Mirza has bypassed religious barriers to
surge from 206th in the women's world rankings last December to 34th
this week.
Her rise to fame and popularity has not gone unnoticed by the radical
Islamic clerics in the mostly Hindu but officially secular India, home
to some 130 million Muslims.
Sania Mirza was given extra security last month after an
Islamic cleric denounced her for wearing short skirts and sleeveless
shirts on court and threatened to stop her playing in a WTA event in
Kolkata.
Other Muslim groups denounced the edict, with a Madrasa
(Islamic schools) board in an eastern Indian state even saying it
planned to insert a chapter on Sania Mirza into its school books. Sania
Mirza's status as a youth icon in a country starved of sporting success
quickly helped her to override the controversy.
Women in Muslim nations usually face a daunting challenge in their
quest for sporting success. They are forced to wear modest clothes to
avoid offending religious and social mores and compete in front of
crowds made up only of women and accompanied men.
Afghanistan's Lima Azimi made history two years ago in Paris
by becoming the first woman from her ravaged country to take part in
the world athletics championships.
Running in a grey T-shirt and black tracksuit trousers, rather
than the body suit worn by her rivals, she clocked a modest 18.37
seconds and was eliminated in her 100 metres heats. "It was not
important for me to run fast but it was very important to participate,"
Lima Azimi said.
Lima Azimi's humble feat came 19 years after Moroccan Nawal El
Moutawakel became the first woman from a Muslim nation to win Olympic
gold with victory in the 400 metres hurdles in Los Angeles. Sania
Mirza, born to educated, well off parents, has been hailed for her
self-confidence and maturity in a nation, which won only one medal in
each of the last three Olympics.
In January, she became the first Indian woman to reach round three of a grand slam at the Australian Open.
She notched up more firsts by claiming India's maiden WTA title before
breaking into the top 100 in the rankings. Her run to the U.S. Open
fourth round in September lifted her to a career-high 31st in the
world.
Sania Mirza herself has remained untouched by all the
attention she has attracted, appearing in a T-shirt bearing the slogan:
"I'm old enough to know better, but still too young to care."
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 October 2005 )
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