Comeback of Nauman Sikander Mir

Nauman Sikander Mir, known as “Nomi” among his friends, was born on 27th july 1977 in Lahore. Nauman belonged to a family who already were national champions (his uncle and his aunt), but little did he know that he'd be known as one of them. He, just like any other child, did not know what badminton was. His uncle, Shakeel Hayat Mir, introduced him to badminton at the age of 11 and trained him under his supervision at LDA Sports Complex Samanabad Lahore in the early days of Nauman. In his early days he would just go to the court with his uncle, watching him and others play. However, as he started to grow up, his uncle focused more on training him.

As soon as his uncle was satisfied with his training, he allowed him to participate in national junior (u-12), where he shocked everyone by winning both boys doubles (with Waqas Ahmed) and boys singles titles. He continued to dominate in juniors at national  level by becoming u-14 and u-18 champion in both categories.

 Along with several national performances, he remained undefeated at domestic level too. He became Inter collegiate (1992-1993) champion, breaking a 10 year losing streak for 

Government College, a college known for producing champions like him, Umer Zeeshan, Waqas Ahmed and many others. Moreover, he won the inter university badminton championship 1995-96 representing University of Punjab. 

Nauman Sikander continued to become a threat for his seniors as he pulled an upset in Rotary Club Badminton Tournament, beating Nadeem Javed (ranked top 8) and beating Amir Zia (ranking no.5) in Aero Asia Cup 1996. Although his career started well but at the age of 20, he faced a big loss of a very dear person - his father. 

He then decided to retire from badminton as the pressure continued to build up from his family as his father was the only one who earned. However, deep inside, he never wanted to leave his passion, but the situation around him seemed as if he would never see the court again. Everyday he heard words like “Nomi please start some business”, “There is no scope of badminton”, “Badminton won't earn you” etc. The only people who were motivating him to play were his 2 friends, Waqas Ahmed and Rizwan Rana and his uncle, Shakeel Hayat.

 After 6 months of grief and sorrow, he was motivated enough to try every possible thing that would allow him to continue his passion. Some days he got ready as if he was going to attend his business, but wore his badminton kit beneath his professional attire. After facing such difficulties, he made such a comeback that was threatening for his opponents too. After his comeback he shifted his focus towards men’s doubles and took retirement from men’s singles. 

He proved his Badminton skills once again by winning 'Men’s team event' at national championships 1999/2001. 

He also won a prestigious title in National Games (March 2001) which are held once in 4 years. After winning men’s doubles (with Imran Mohib) in All Pakistan Ranking Karachi in 2003, he and his partner Waqas Ahmed went on to Athens International 2003 where they lost in the round of 16. 

In the following year, he also participated in Auckland International 2004. In the same year, he also won Men's doubles National Championship 2004 (with Ali Yar Baig) and reached out to round of 16 partnering Ali Yar Baig in Pakistan Satellite 2004 where they lost to India. 

Even on the edge of retiring, Nauman Sikander continued with his brilliant performances, as in 2006, he reached the Men's Doubles (with Shabbar Hussain) semi final in Bank of Scotland International Champs.
After his father passed away, his comeback left everyone amazed, and he went on to become an International player, bagging National titles several times. Although as compared to his batchmates, Nauman's career was short-lived, but in this short and precious time, he had achieved wonders. 

Nauman retired at the age of 28 as the responsibilities on him kept increasing. He had to manage business along with a professional badminton career. Finally, he decided to hang up his racket after losing the final round of All Pakistan New Khan Open 2006.

Any Badminton player can recognize the true effort and struggle required to achieve success in this game. Nauman Sikander Mir will continue to inspire us, as well as the rest of the Badminton community, now & forever.

Written by: Muhammad Anas Akhtar