The lack of professional sporting culture and limited support from parents and the concerned sports federations make a number of talented athletes quit their favorite sport and take routine jobs.

Making ends meet always comes first, and sports like Badminton, Baseball and even Squash – which Pakistanis once ruled for so many years – have taken a backseat in our sporting arenas.

A number of currently playing cricketers grew up watching the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas and the like which is the reason why they had idols to follow. The same cannot be said about Badminton. However, a rising Badminton star, Mahoor Shahzad is changing that.

The 22-year-old has entered into the top 150, which makes it the first time ever a badminton player from Pakistan has achieved the feat in women’s singles. She represents WAPDA in the domestic structure and currently tops the national rankings.

With immense pleasure I inform you all that my world ranking has increased to 149 Alhumdulillah, making me the first ever female badminton player of Pakistan to reach 150 in the world ranking. Thanks to Magnus Sports for sponsoring my trip to Benin and Côte d‘Ivoire. pic.twitter.com/4rmSEKbyS6 — Mahoor Shahzad (@OfficialMahoor) August 1, 2019

For reference, Palwasha Bashir, whose name some of you might have heard, currently ranks at 374, while Sehra Akram is placed at 383 in world rankings.

In the men’s singles rankings, Irfan Saeed Bhatti is the best ranked Pakistani player at 396th place. Anjum Bashir is the only other player inside the top 500.

One of the main reasons why Pakistani athletes are not top-ranked is that they get limited sponsorships and they have to bear the finances on their own. If players are financially well-supported by the boards, they can do wonders.

More people in the country need to take up sports at the professional level, however, the concerned sports boards must ensure professionalism to bring talented individuals to the limelight.