18-yr-old from Chennai leads Team India’s Carrom World Cup sweep

CHENNAI: Singles, Doubles, and the Team Championship – the 18-year-old Chennai girl, the daughter of an auto driver from Kasimedu, left nothing for competitors from around the world at the sixth edition of the Carrom World Cup held in the US which Team India swept.

The Women’s Singles final was a hard-fought contest, where the 18-year-old M Khazima kept her nerves to defeat 12-time national and multiple World Cup winner Rashmi Kumari from Bihar. With this victory, Khazima became the youngest Carrom World Champion.

Khazima, whose father Mehaboob Basha is an auto driver from Kasimedu, had been training for the tournament at the Cherian Nagar Carrom Coaching Centre. Currently pursuing her graduation, Khazima is the State and national champion in the junior and sub-junior categories.

The World Cup saw participation from 18 countries, and India emerged victorious, sweeping all the honours in both the men's and women’s categories.

The women’s team consisted of four players, three of whom were from Tamil Nadu. Khazima partnered with V Mithra from Madurai to win the doubles title, and K Nagajothi from Vyasarpadi was part of the team that secured the Team Championship.

The Indian team was led by A Maria Irudayam, Arjuna Awardee and 9-time National Champion, also from Tamil Nadu.

India’s K Srinivas won the Men’s Singles title, and other players in the men’s team included Mohammad Arif, S Aditya, and Sandeep Dive.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who handles the Sports Development Department, handed over Rs 1.5 lakh from the Tamil Nadu Champions Fund to Khazima in July.

Following her stupendous performance on Sunday, Chief Minister MK Stalin took to social media to congratulate the new World Champion. “Kudos to our Tamil Nadu girl Khazima for winning three categories at the 6th Carrom World Cup held in the USA,” he said in the post.