Shaik Jafreen has turned promise into silver.
At the Open Deaf Youth Tennis Cup held recently at the Marienthaler Tennis and Hockey Club in Hamburg, Germany, the promising 16-year-old player bagged two silver medals. Speech-and-hearing-impaired, she first clinched silver in the singles and then partnered Punjab’s Parul Gupta for an identical finish in the doubles.
On being feted by former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy for her quarter-final performance at the Deaf Olympics in Bulgaria last year, tennis ace Sania Mirza had offered her free coaching at her academy. The right-handed baseliner received Rs.1 lakh from the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) under the ‘Krida Jothi’ scheme shortly after.
Jafreen’s lawyer father Zakir Ahmed, who virtually had to give up practice in his native Kurnool to support his daughter’s career, found the task an uphill one, till he approached industrialist G.V. Krishna Reddy. Before making any commitment, Mr. Reddy took on the teenager in a game on his court at home. Impressed by her display, he lost no time in sponsoring her trip to Germany.
Jafreen, who was initiated into the tennis as a seven-year old, won titles in the All India Tennis Association’s (AITA) under-12, under-14 (twice) and under-16 categories, besides claiming bronze in the School Games Federation of India championships. A second-year intermediate student of Government Junior College, B Camp, Kurnool, Jafreen received the Prathiba award from the District Collector for a 9.5 grade point average in her matriculation exam. She unwinds from the game’s rigours by indulging in her other passion – painting.
She will now head for the World Deaf Tennis championships at Chattanooga in Tennessee, United States from July 14 to 19. The event, also known as the Dresse Maere Tennis Cup, is played on the Davis Cup format.
