Eyes on Grand Slam and Olympics, Mashfia marches forward
In total, she competed for Bangladesh in 18 international tournaments, including the World Championship in 2019.
In December 2021, Bangladesh's emerging tennis star Mashfia Afrin was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Prior to that, she had quite a promising career since beginning her journey in 2010. In age-level tennis, she held the top ranking in Bangladesh and was ranked 30th in Asia.
In total, she competed for Bangladesh in 18 international tournaments, including the World Championship in 2019. She also participated in around 50 national tournaments, where she achieved the title of national champion in the U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, and U-18 age categories. Most recently, she reached the finals in the senior women's category of the national tournament as well.
While the injury she sustained in 2021 was not particularly a career-threatening one, it required her to take time away from tennis. However, for someone who not only fell in love with tennis since she was a child but also started playing it at age four, it was inevitable that she would not stay away from the tennis circuit indefinitely.
So, she started pursuing tennis referee training soon after. Fast forward to 28 April 2024, the 18-year-old Mashfia made history by becoming Bangladesh's first International Tennis Federation (ITF) White Badge referee. She achieved this milestone after successfully passing the ITF White Badge Officiating School examination in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
This badge signifies a high level of competency and knowledge in officiating tennis matches at various levels, including international competitions. Hence, Mashfia will now be authorised to organise Asian Tennis Federation (ATF)-approved international competitions, as well as ITF World Junior (Under-18) Tennis Championship, ITF junior team events, Asian U-16 and U-14 tournaments, ITF U-12 and ITF masters series, and beach tennis competitions.
Prior to this, Bangladesh's most significant achievement in tennis refereeing was Sarwar Mustafa Joy being recognised as an ITF White Badge Chair Umpire in 2000.
But why did Mashfia turn to tennis refereeing at such a tender age, especially when she still had much of her playing career ahead of her?
"Once I began training as a tennis referee, I realised that this was no less fun than actually playing tennis. Also, I felt that as a tennis referee, I had better prospects for achieving greater success than as a tennis player from Bangladesh, where opportunities for international career advancement in tennis are still limited," Mashfia explained in a recent conversation with The Business Standard.
And so, as a calculated career move, Mashfia preferred being a tennis referee to a tennis player, and she is already reaping the rewards of this decision.
"Becoming a White Badge referee is no simple feat. In Kuala Lumpur, I met individuals who had been striving for it since they began their refereeing journey in 1990. Yet, it took me only about a year and a half after receiving my first-level refereeing certificate in December 2022," Mashfia remarked.
What's even more remarkable about Mashfia's achievement is that she mastered the extensive ITF syllabus covering all tennis rules across age groups and categories in just two months after being selected for the Kuala Lumpur examination.
Simultaneously, she was pursuing two different bachelor's degrees: one in English at the American International University of Bangladesh (AIUB) and another in Business Administration at the University of the People, an online university.
As a diligent student who attended Viqarunnisa Noon School and College and actively participated in numerous voluntary activities and Olympiads since she was in the sixth grade, Mashfia aims to keep avenues of opportunity open from all directions.
Notably, she already has some international experience under her belt. She made her international debut as an assistant referee during the Junior World Tennis Series in Dhaka in February of last year. Additionally, earlier this year, she served as an assistant referee at the International Junior Tennis Tournament in both Delhi and Kolkata.
Over the past few days, she garnered significant attention within the country's sporting community, which eagerly anticipates seeing her officiate in top-tier tennis competitions.
Nevertheless, Mashfia aims to stay grounded and realistic about her accomplishments. She emphasised that while the White Badge represents a level-two certification, she still has to acquire the level-three certification, which comprises three distinct stages: Bronze Badge, Silver Badge, and Gold Badge, to complete her journey.
"I am not thinking too far ahead. My focus is solely on my next steps, which is to gain more experience by officiating in international events. Hopefully, my success will inspire many others to pursue this profession," she said.
And deep inside, she harbours the aim of achieving the greatest success as a tennis referee. "From a tennis standpoint, I aspire to officiate at Grand Slam events. However, from a broader sporting perspective, my ultimate goal would be to officiate at the Olympics," Mashfia concluded.