She is all in one. Having represented at competitive levels in many sports including roller skating, netball, cue sports apart from basketball, Shireen Limaye is multi-talented youngster; but the 16-year-old says her heart beats for basketball the most.
At an age when most of the kids are still in the process of learning to stand on their feet, this toddler had already become a regular face on the basketball courts. With her mother being a basketball player and a coach at PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune, leaving this six-seven –month-old child alone at home wasn’t a feasible option. Hence Shireen Limaye started accompanying her mother Suvarna Vijay Limaye to the courts and thus began her foray into the world of sports at a very tender age.
Belonging to a family where sports flow in the veins, it was but natural for Shireen to get attracted to it and her upbringing in a sporty atmosphere further made her master the skills in variety of sports, including roller skating, netball, cue sports apart from basketball in which she has already represented various teams at different competitive levels.
VENTURING INTO BILLIARDS, SNOOKER & ROLLER SKATING
Billiards and snooker started for her at PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune and she started her endeavours in the competitive sports at the age of five. Cue sports were carried out along with roller skating, in which she won a couple of state championships in Under-6 age category.
“We had a national tournament and an Asian championship of snooker in our club -- PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune. I used to go and watch players like Devendra Joshi, Geet Sethi, and Pankaj Advani playing and was highly inspired by them. I started playing snooker while I was 10. My snooker coach -- Satish Amarnath -- who is one of the best coaches in India, taught me very patiently. I participated in the Indore Nationals in 2008 when I was 13-year-old and won silver medal in snooker U-21 category. I also participated in the national Snooker championship the next year and was ranked third in India. I also won the silver medal in billiards,” Shireen told ISN.
But all this while she never sacrificed with her basketball practices and was a regular hoopster on the PYC Hindu Gymkhana courts.
INDIAN NETBALL TEAM- CWG 2010 SPELL
Netball was an understandable option as her mother is a netball enthusiast, other than a basketball coach. The first time she played netball was along with her mother in a Senior State Championship. Then she appeared for the CWG 2010 netball trails at Gandhinagar and got selected. Thereafter, she played a series against Singapore in U-21 Asian Championship and CWG Delhi 2010.
COMMITMENT VS CHOICE
“When I got selected for CWG netball, I didn’t know I was selected for under-16 FIBA Indian team. However, Gurbir Singh, President of the Netball federation of India and the coaches retained their faith in me and waited for me to finish the FIBA tournament. I joined the CWG Netball camp after two days of FIBA Asia Basketball tournament. That was a commitment to me. It was never a matter of choice. Basketball is and will always be my first priority,” said Shireen.
The basketball journey, which started long time back, has catapulted to another level now. She has participated in number of national tournaments like Savio Cup, Federation Cup and Youth Nationals and post these national tournaments, she has become a common name in basketball circuit. Her outstanding performance gave her an entry into the women’s team probables’ list for the William Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei, FIBA Asia Championship in Japan and World U-18 and 3 on 3 games in Italy, all at one go.
She reached the breakthrough point of her career when she was declared the rebound ace at the Asian under-16 Basketball Championship, which was held at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune in December 2009.
SENIOR TEAM CALLING
With roller Skating and billiards taking a back seat for now, Shireen achieved another milestone of being the part of the Indian senior women’s team and youth team at the same time. She was the youngest in the senior team, which participated in a tournament in Japan.
“Being youngest in the senior team is a very good feeling. I got all the help from my senior team mates. I got to learn a lot from them. Now I will join in U-16 camp for the FIBA Asia Women’s championship to be held in China in December in few days. There my role will be totally different,” added Shireen.
“Shireen is really explosive on the court. She is blessed with the athletic ability. I see an undying passion in her and her future is definitely bright,” said Prashanti Singh, a senior team member.
HER SUPPORT SYSTEM
She idolises her mother, who is her very first coach. Suvarna Vijay Limaye has been a great player herself and currently coaches at PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune.
“She has been a constant support throughout. I have seen her playing since I started understanding the game. She has taught me a lot. She is my best friend too. I can share each and everything with her. The entire credit goes to her for whatever little I have achieved,” said the 16-year-old hoopster.
“I am definitely very happy to see my daughter succeeding at this young age, but I know with that a great responsibility comes on our shoulder to keep her grounded and that she does not lose the focus. Till now we have managed that and she too is a very mature and disciplined player. So she understands things very fast,” said Suvarna Vijay Limaye.
Shireen’s folks have been motivating and pushing her all these years to help her reach where she stands today. She has grown up seeing her brother Animish, who has been a great skater, a basketball player and a netball player too. Her father, Vijay Limaye, too had been a national-level swimmer.
A music and Kathak dance lover, Shireen is presently pursuing her schooling from National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) as in the past two years she was almost out of the house and it was not possible to go to school.
“I managed to pass my 10th board exam pretty well; there has been a good support from family to push me further. It’s so good to share all my interests with my family members,” the five-feet-10-and-a-half inches tall hoopster added.
A BRIGHT PROSPECT
Just 16-year-old, Shireen has spent most of her growing years on the PYC courts and her determination and passion for the game has paid her well so far. She wishes to feature in WNBA someday which is also her ultimate aim while she is playing basketball from quite a long time now.
When asked whether she wishes to turn back to other sports which she has excelled in the past, she said, “No, right now I don’t have any plans of playing netball or cue sports. Yes, but I do want to keep practicing snooker because I like it and it helps me to develop my concentration. My weakness on court is my ball control. But I am working on it and I will soon be a good ball controller too.”
“She has a tremendous potential and I want work on her skills, combine both and make her devil on court who’d never give up.” said Shiba Maggon, coach of U -16 women team.
Indian Basketball awaits promising players like her to accelerate India’s performances in future.
By Akshi Aggarwal
Indian Sports News
