Winning shot : Sadia Gul eyes Commonwealth glory

Peshawar teenager believes she is ready for the job

PESHAWAR:

Aiming for nothing less than gold, national level junior squash champion Sadia Gul from Peshawar plans on making an impact at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Pacific Island of Samoa from September 5 to 11.

Gul, who is 17 and hails from Bannu district, spent most of her life in Peshawar and is 109th in the international squash ranking and the winner of a UN Award in 2012.

The selection trials were held in Islamabad after which Gul and Asrar Khan were selected to represent the country in the games. Both of them play for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on the domestic front.

“Sport for women is not an easy task in my region,” Gul told The Express Tribune. “However, my family and the department have given me great support. My eyes are on the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and I have put in some good practice.”

Sadia is a student of intermediate at the Frontier College and wants to become a lawyer to serve society; particularly women in cases of harassment and injustices.

“My ranking was 227 when I started and now it is 109 on the international level,” she said. “However, I am the top seed and second on the national level among women after Maria Toorpakai. My aim is to be in the top 10 players of the world.”

She is a Pakistan colour holder and gold medallist of the National Games 2013. She has also been given best player award from K-P from 2012 to 2014. Gul has represented Pakistan in Jordan, South Korea, Iran and India.



Gul is also honored by the UN.  ‘An Aspiration for Girls’ Award was handed to her during the same ceremony where Malala Yousafzai was given the UN Peace Award.

A profile sent by Sadia says in March 2015, she contested in a poll along with 431 other women from different fields for a place among ‘50 Most Powerful and Influential Women’. A total of 1,107,623 votes were polled and Sadia Gul was ranked 14th on the list.

SNGPL is a great motivation for her. The Fifth Youth Commonwealth Games will be played from September 5 to 11 in Samoa. Gul’s father Sher Khitab says he supported his daughter against all odds. He said he incurred her expenses of training and food so that the teenager may bring honour for him and her society.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2015.