Samiya Imad Farooqui was born in 2 June 2003 and is the rising star of India. Born in Hyderabad, she has already ranked 8th in the BWF Junior Rankings for Women’s Single’s and is fighting for the top spot. The 17 year old has proven herself capable of competing with the elites proven by her current singles record of 39-17.
Farooqui goes to Open School in India but when she’s not studying for her academics, she’s studying to become the best in the world at Pullela Gopichard Academy. In there she is trained by Gopi Sir who she attributed her success to. The academy also has India’s best players training there, Saima and Sindhu has been at the academy since 2009 and is a big factor in her development; they’ve been encouraging her and telling her how important fitness is.
She idolises Tai Tzu Ying, the number 1 Women’s Single’s in the world and its reflected by her performances. Farooqui had recently won a gold medal for Girl’s Singles in the Bulgarian Junior International Championships in 2019 when she defeated Anastasia Shapolalova from Russia (9-21, 21-12, 22-20). And she also claimed gold for Women’s Doubles U15 in the Pembangunan Raya International Grand Prix 2017 where Farooqui and her partner triumphed over a strong Indonesian duo.
But what rose Farooqui to the spotlight was her impressive win in the U-15 Asian Junior Championships in 2017 when she defeated another Indonesian opponent Widjajana Stephani. She came from a game behind and claimed the title.
Farooqui is on her way to the top and with her mantra "When under pressure, keep the shuttle in play and minimize errors”, she can overcome anything.
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