It was a late summer evening and I was playing Lawn tennis for my organization at ‘Space Circle’ club Kolkata, where I participated in an Intra Company Tournament. Since it was a Sunday, my beloved family accompanied me to cheer me up in my matches. When we reached the venue, the scheduled matches were yet to start and there were young kids taking training for Lawn Tennis on the courts. My six-year-old little girl was very curious about the training and started questioning me about the game. When the training sessions were over and we pitched on the court for warm up she excitedly asked me if she can hit a couple of balls. She was given a fair chance of practice but the Tennis Racket was too heavy for her. While returning home, irrespective of my loss in the game she showed too much interest in the game & wanted to learn the same. After a long discussion with her I was able to persuade her that she was too young for Lawn Tennis as she will need a lot of power in her wrist and that she can go ahead and try Badminton at this point of time. Agreed, there starts the career of a rising star at YMCA Esplanade, Kolkata.
Jasmine started her training at the age of 6.5 years under the Guidance of Sujith Sir who was the coach of YMCA Badminton Club. Slowly Jasmine showed interest in Badminton and became passionate about the game. She was very diligent in attending regular practice after her School at Loreto House Park Street. It was a long 2 kms walk from school to YMCA but she never complained about it & neither did her mom :). She used to be very excited about her game.
Slowly Jasmine started playing different badminton tournaments most of which were either losses or a mere 3rd/4th position. Finally, she pierced the Queue to become West Bengal State Ranking Champion in the Under-9 Category that was held at Howrah in 2019. After this Glory she gave a selection trial at Sports Academy of India (SAI) Bhubaneswar & was selected for a full scholarship in the year Jan 2020. She joined SAI Badminton Academy at Bhubaneswar but alas fate was not on her side & the world was grasped by the pandemic of Covid-19. No Game, No practice, No Badminton for the entire 2020 & 2021. Although the situation was rough, she was persistent and continued her fitness training at home.
In the Year 2022 we got an opportunity to fly all the way to Canada for my Office project assignment & Jasmine started her Badminton Training revived at JBTC Halifax, Nova Scotia. After 3-4 months of practice Jasmine was back to Rhythm. She started winning different internal Leagues held at JBTC.
Soon after Jasmine started achieving feathers on her hat at Provincial Matches of Nova Scotia. On January 2023 she participated in ‘Nova Scotia Scott Open Series Tournament #2 2023’ & won her first Nova Scotia Girls Doubles Under 17 Badminton Championship.
And this was just the beginning – having tasted victory Jasmine was high on energy and started practicing at full pace aiming for her first Provincial Championship at BNS Provincial Championship 2023 that was scheduled for March 2023. Rightly said phrase ‘God helps those who help themselves’ and Jasmine’s hard work paid off – she won the 2 Gold & 1 Silver Medal in Badminton Nova Scotia Provincial Championship held at Truro on 24th March 2023. Stats stand as below:
Girls Singles Under 17 – 1st Place / Gold Winner
Girls Doubles Under 17 – 1st Place / Gold Winner
Mixed Doubles Under 15 – 2nd Place / Silver Winner
After achieving this feat Jasmine was given a Big Challenge by her Coach Mr. Leon Fu to win the Championship in Under 17 Girls Singles Category at Atlantic Tournament that takes place amongst the 4 Atlantic Provinces namely (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, NewfoundLand & Labrador. Considering Jasmine’s age (she is just 12 years old) this was an immense test for her. Jasmine took extreme hardship to improve her fitness & game skills under her coach’s guidance. She started training for extra hours which at times became very difficult for her (balancing both Sports & Studies). The tournament started on 05th May 2023 and continued for 3 long days at Moncton, New Brunswick. Jasmine gave her utmost and played all out to reach the Finals of Under 17 Girls Singles which was scheduled on 07th May 2023. On the Day of finals Jasmine looked pretty much confident and I was sensing victory in her eyes. The Final match was very competitive and continued till 3rd set where in Jasmine defeated her opponent with scores 21-7 / 16-21 / 21-19 to win the Atlantic Championship – Proud of our daughter 😊
– Submitted by Nandini Dey