Meet Ishrat Akhter, first woman basketball wheelchair player representing India at international level
Shabroz Malik
Srinagar, Oct 16: Ishrat Akhter, a first woman basketball wheelchair player from India, got selected at the international level for the second time. The people from sports fraternity have appreciated Ishrat Akhter through various social media platforms as she has made the country proud at the international level.
Its pertinent to mention here that Ishrat Akhter is India’s First International Wheelchair Basketball player and a motivational speaker as well. She has been awarded with Kashmir Young Leadership award, Kashmir Young Achievers award and scores of others awards at the district and state levels.
“I was a normal girl until I had a fall from the balcony of my house on 24 August 2016 that broke my spinal cord, leaving me physically challenged and handicapped.
After that accident I was a patient at the Voluntary Medicare Society,
where I joined the Wheelchair Basketball team and got selected to play the National in Tamil Nadu, representing Delhi as J&K did not have a team at that time,” Ishrat said.
“I collected some good players from J&K and made a team. Then I played the second National at Mohali while representing J&K. There, I was selected to represent India at the Asia Oceania Wheelchair Basketball Championship at Pattaya Thailand in 2019. I was the only girl in Jammu and Kashmir who represented India at the international level,” she added.
Ishrat further said she was selected for a sports visitors program – wheelchair basketball and accessibility – held from 16 to 30 March 2019 in the USA. “However, I was not able to attend the camp due to some personal issues,” she said, “I participated in a Boys Wheelchair race, being the only girl in that competition and secured First position.
I also play Wheelchair Table Tennis.”
Ishrat Akhter is a motivational speaker as well, having delivered many talks in Kashmir and outside J&K.
Akhter was also presented the Kashmir Young Leadership Award 2021 by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
She was also presented the “Kashmir Young Achiever’s Award, 2021” by Major General Prashant Srivastava, GOC Victor Force, on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor.
