LAUSANNE: Young India forward Mumtaz Khan has won FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year Award at the FIH Star Awards 2021-22.
The International Hockey Federation on Tuesday named Mumtaz and Timothée Clément of France as the FIH Rising Stars of the Year 2021-22 in the women’s and men’s category respectively.
Mumtaz burst on to the international hockey scene almost out of nowhere in the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup South Africa, thrilling hockey fans with her incredible style of play and an eye for scoring goals!
The 19-year-old, who hails from Lucknow, was the best performer for India in the Junior World Cup, scoring 8 times in 6 games. She finished in the third place on the list of top scorers in the World Cup, as India missed out on a Bronze medal by a whisker finishing in the 4th place. She failed to score in just one game throughout the tournament, against Netherlands. Mumtaz scored both the goals for India in the crucial 2-2 tie in the Bronze medal match against England, but the team couldn’t get over the line in the ensuing shoot-out.
Mumtaz started off her sporting career as a track athlete and it can be seen in her game as once she finds any semblance of space behind the opposition’s defense, she is impossible to catch. Most of her goals in the World Cup came about in similar fashion as quick counters by the Indian team left opponents playing catch-up as Mumtaz burst through the ranks to go through on the goal.
Mumtaz was also a part of the Indian team that played in the Hero FIH Hockey5s Lausanne 2022 and showcased her improving skills scoring 5 goals in 4 games, in very different conditions that limited her ability to exploit open spaces, as she instead relied on her shooting skills to find the back of the goal.
The field was closely packed at the top of FIH Rising Star of the Year category, as Mumtaz edged Belgium’s Charlotte Englebert by a margin of just 3 points. Mumtaz finished with a total of 32.9 points with Englebert coming in second with 29.9 points. Luna Fokke from the Netherlands finished third with 16.9 points.
