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Nasreen Shaikh is an Indian kho-kho player who served as the captain of the Indian women’s kho-kho team. In 2024, she became the second kho-kho player in India after Sarika Kale Sudhakar to receive the Arjuna Award.
Wiki/Biography
Nasreen Shaikh was born on Saturday, 7 November 1998 (age 25 years, as of 2023) in Shakurpur, Delhi. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio. Nasreen completed her schooling at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Kohat Enclave, Pitampura, New Delhi. She pursued a Bachelor of Arts at the Daulat Ram College (DU). Nasreen then pursued a Bachelor of Physical Education from the Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab. After completing her B.P.Ed., Nasreen started pursuing her Masters in Physical Education from Lovely Professional University.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 3″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Family
Parents & Siblings
Nasreen Shaikh’s father, Mohammed Ghafoor, sells utensils in the weekly flea markets at different regions of Delhi. Nasreen’s mother, Anwari, is a homemaker. She has 10 siblings out of which 6 are sisters and four brothers.
Husband
Nasreen Shaikh is unmarried.
Religion
Nasreen Shaikh follows Islam.
Kho-Kho Player
In 2016, Nasreen Shaikh participated in the 2016 South Asian Games in which the Indian kho kho team won the gold medal. In 2019, Nasreen represented the Airports Authority of India (AAI) kho kho team as a captain in the 13th South Asian Games and won gold in the tournament finals under her captaincy.
Unbeatable Indian Women’s Kho Kho Team bagged Gold after beating Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka in 13th South Asian Games held in Nepal. #AAI takes pride as Nasreen Shaikh (AAI supported player) captained the team with Aishwarya, Poornima and Praveen, other AAI-supported players. pic.twitter.com/kIAXQQ5Oki
— Airports Authority of India (@AAI_Official) December 5, 2019
In 2022, Nasreen participated in the 55th Senior Kho Kho National Championship which was held in Osmanabad, Maharashtra. In 2023, Nasreen took part in the 4th Asian Kho Kho Championship which was held in Tamulpur, Assam where the Indian Kho Kho team won the gold medal in the tournament finals.
Awards
In 2024, Nasreen Shaikh was awarded the Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games.
President Droupadi Murmu confers Arjuna Award, 2023 on Ms Nasreen for her achievements in Kho-Kho. She has won:
● One Gold Medal in the Asian Kho-Kho Championship held in Tamulpur, India in 2023.
● One Gold Medal in the South Asian Games held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019. pic.twitter.com/q47i8jJ4X6— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 9, 2024
Facts/Trivia
- After the Indian kho kho player Sarika Kale Sudhakar won the Arjuna Award in 2020, in 2024, Nasreen Shaikh became the second kho kho player who received the second-highest sporting honour in India.
- Nasreen has been a very good athlete ever since her school days, and she used to win gold medals in 100m and 200m sprints in the inter-school events.
- Her family was financially very poor which is why she had to pick a sport which didn’t include any sports equipment hence, she chose kho kho as her career option.
- Nasreen started her kho kho journey when she was in the third standard and until she reached her sixth standard, she was already participating in the school nationals as well as the nationals in kho kho.
- Nasreen Shaikh was appointed on a monthly stipend of Rs 26,000 by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), and she also plays for their kho kho team.
- During the COVID-19 lockdown, Nasreen and her family faced a very tough time financially and demanded financial help for diet, considering which federation gave her Rs 1 lakh, a welfare NGO based in old Delhi provided Rs 50,000 and the general secretary of the Kho Kho federation, MS Tyagi gave her Rs 5000.
- In 2023, the Kho-Kho Federation of India announced that a biopic will be made centred on Nasreen’s extraordinary life and achievements. The biopic was screened in December 2023, during the opening ceremony of the Ultimate Kho-kho, a National league.
- In 2023, Nasreen’s name was included in class 5’s book in a Uttar Pradesh Government school.
- As of 2023, Nasreen Shaikh has played in 50 national events and six international events.