Irum expects better show in Asia Women Rugby C’ship

LAHORE: Pakistan women rugby team will offer encouraging performance in Asia Rugby Women Sevens Championship 2018 scheduled to be held at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; this determination was shown by Irum Rathor, a member of national women rugby team while talking to this scribe prior to their departure for Brunei on Thursday.

Irum said Pakistan women rugby team did immense hard work during the 2-month long national camp under the supervision of newly-hired women rugby coach Susan Dawson of New Zealand. “Susan, who is a former international rugby player, taught us basic techniques quite professionally and now our girls are well prepared to face more experienced teams in the Asian event,” she added.

Responding to a question, Irum said: “This is Pakistan women rugby team’s only second international visit and we are quite hopeful to show better performance than last year”.

Irum Rathor, who is excelling in two male-dominated sports namely rugby as a player and as referee in football, said Pakistan women are struggling to keep the country’s flag high in sports. Born in a Kashmiri family from Islamabad, Irum, also enjoys bike riding as a hobby. She has represented Pakistan rugby team in nine international matches.

Irum, who did M.Sc in Actuarial Sciences from Punjab University, started playing rugby in 2005. “Sports has been my passion since my teenage time.

I always wanted to do something different for my country. Initially, I chose athletics then cricket and finally picked the game of rugby as my first love in 2015. I feel that sports is in my blood,” she elaborated. Irum added that her dream has always been to play for Pakistan at the highest level. “My dream turned into reality when I represented the country in 2017 Asian Rugby Women’s Sevens Trophy and that was a memorable moment of my sporting life. At that time I realised that I have the ability to do something for my country in this field,” Irum further said.

Answering a query how she managed higher study with her sporting activities, Irum admitted that was not an easy job. “It demands a lot of dedication, passion and motivation to earn success both in sports and education as well”.

To a question Irum said that it is not convenient for women to play any role in the men-dominated society because narrow minded people always try to create hurdles. “I also faced such problems but my brother always supported me. I would like to suggest that all the stakeholders must give special attention towards the promotion of women sports, since they are half of our population,” Irum says. Replying a question, Irum said that her dream is not only to earn big name as a sports woman but also to inspire other females to join the healthy activities. “It was also a dilemma of the society that the parents had more interest in marriage of their daughters instead of encouraging them to earn a name in any field”.