PETALING JAYA: When you’re born into a household with two sporting royalties as parents, you’re bound to be subjected to comparisons.
Interestingly for Jasmine Kaur Bhatt, there’s no need to worry about that although her parents are national icons – former national rugby skipper Jagjit Singh and track and field darling Datuk Marina Chin.
Jasmine is busy carving out her own piece of history as part of the first Malaysian women’s rugby Sevens team at the Asian Games in Incheon.
“I’m very lucky ... growing up, my parents never forced me to do sports. But my mom did encourage my brother and I to be sports-inclined,” said the 29-year-old.
From the age of six to 12, Jasmine took up swimming and also dabbled in ballet and modern jazz.
She then made the jump to athletics at 13 but, unlike her mother who ran the 110m hurdles, Jasmine said that she was “not a sprinter like my mom” and found her place running middle-distances – the 800m, 1,500m and 3,000m.
She would also follow her dad to watch local rugby matches on weekends – as well as when the World Cup was on – but it was still lost on her.
It was only when she went to New Zealand in 2005 to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in commerce (majoring in accounting) at the University of Otago did it all change.
“I think it was when I was 16 or 17 that I really got into it. Being in New Zealand, I just couldn’t pass up the chance, so I signed up to join the university team – although I’ve never played the game before. All my team-mates had been playing for years. And here I was just learning how to pass the ball and the rules of the game. I was in over my head,” she said.
“But I’m really thankful because despite it all, the team still gave me game time and that was priceless.
“Can you imagine tackling the Kiwi girls? They’re huge ... really huge!” recalled Jasmine, who went on to play in the illustrious Alhambra-Union Rugby Football Club in Dunedin – a club with illustrious alumnae like former Black Ferns captain Farah Palmer as well as Kelly Brazier and Carla Hohepa.
With the Asiad just a day away, Jasmine says the excitement is palpable.
“We’re all very excited. Knowing that we’re making history by competing at the Asian Games is huge and we want to make the very best impression in (South) Korea,” said Jasmine, who quit her job at an auditing firm in July to fully focus on training for the Games.
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