Hockey: India's Mumtaz Khan wins FIH Rising Star of the Year award

The International Hockey Federation announced that young Indian forward Mumtaz Khan, and France’s Timothée Clément have been named 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 at the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup 2022. She was the best performer for India at the event, scoring 8 times in 6 games. She finished in the third place on the list of top scorers as India missed out on a bronze medal by a whisker, finishing in fourth place.

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.

“I am very happy to have won this award. I feel that I can achieve more things in my life by working hard and I would like to thank the coaching staff and my teammates for their support. I would also like to thank the fans for their support,” she said after winning the award.

Mumtaz Khan: A daring young goalscorer who impressed at the Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup

Hailing from the city of Lucknow, the 19-year-old 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 difficult 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.