Shahida Raza
{{Short description|Pakistani field hockey player (died 2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
Shahida Raza ({{langx|ur|شاہدہ رضا}}; 1990s – 26 February 2023) was a Pakistani field hockey and football player known as "Chintu" by her teammates. She captained the national team in hockey, and had also represented Pakistan in football and martial arts. She died when a migrant boat sank off the coast of Italy on 26 February 2023.
Early life and career
Raza, known by the nickname Chintu, was from the mountainous region of Quetta. She began her career in field hockey in 2007, and played on teams sponsored by the Army, the Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA),{{cite news |author=Gul Yousafzai |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/pakistan-ex-hockey-players-dreams-better-life-shatter-italy-shipwreck-2023-03-02/ |title=Pakistan ex-hockey player's dreams of better life shatter in Italy shipwreck |website=Reuters.com |date=2 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/3/2/pakistan-mourns-death-of-star-athlete-in-migrant-boat-shipwreck |title=Pakistan mourns death of star athlete in shipwreck off Italy|website=Aljazeera |date=2 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}} and Pakistan Railways.{{Cite news |author=Zubair Nazir Khan |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2403725/hockey-player-shahida-raza-among-victims-of-migrant-boat-tragedy|title=Hockey player Shahida among victims of migrant boat tragedy|date=28 February 2023|newspaper=The Express Tribune |access-date=6 February 2024}} She played for Pakistan in the 2009 Asian Hockey Federation U-18 Girls' Cup, and at senior level in the 2012 Asian Hockey Federation Cup.{{Cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1739794 |title=Former hockey player Shahida Raza among dead in Italian shipwreck tragedy |author=Imran Siddique |agency=APP |date=1 March 2023 |website=Dawn |access-date=6 February 2024}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/473538-hockey-player-shahida-raza-among-victims-of-italy-boat-accident |title=Pakistan female hockey player among victims of Italy boat accident |website=Geo TV|date=1 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Hazara-hockey-player-among-migrants-who-died-in-shipwreck-off-the-Italian-coast-57873.html |title=Hazara hockey player among migrants who died in shipwreck off the Italian coast |website=Asia News |publisher=Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions |date=2 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}} A half-back, she was captain of the national team.{{cite news |url=https://www.corriere.it/sport/23_marzo_01/shahida-raza-morta-naufragio-crotone-era-capitana-pakistan-hockey-b2cdccfc-b840-11ed-8bae-9fdc85b635ee.shtml |title=Shahida Raza morta nel naufragio di Crotone: era capitana del Pakistan di hockey e perseguitata nel suo Paese |trans-title=Shahida Raza dead in the Crotone shipwreck: was captain of Pakistan hockey and persecuted in her country |newspaper=Corriere della Sera |language=it |date=1 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://hockeyitalia21.com/2023/03/01/lhockey-italiano-piange-la-scomparsa-di-shahida-raza/ |title=L'hockey italiano piange la scomparsa di Shahida Raza |trans-title=Italian hockey mourns the passing of Shahida Raza |website=Hockey Italia 21 |date=1 March 2023 |language=it |access-date=6 February 2024}} Domestically, she was on the WAPDA team that reached the finals of the 2012 Pakistan Hockey Federation U-21 Girls Cup.
Raza also played for Pakistan in football;{{cite news |author=Fazal Tawab |url=https://apnews.com/article/migration-shipwreck-pakistan-soccer-shahida-raza-29203e7b2f118ec8ed3363995be793ef |title=Athlete dead in shipwreck left Pakistan to help disabled son |publisher=Associated Press |date=4 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}} domestically, she played for Balochistan United W.F.C., with whom {{As of|2013|11|lc=y}} she had reached eight national championship finals.{{cite news |author=Myra Khan |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/633852/fair-game-female-footballers |title=Fair game: Female footballers |newspaper=The Express Tribune |date=24 November 2013 |access-date=6 February 2024}}
She also competed nationally and internationally as a professional kickboxer and in wushu. In wushu she represented Pakistan at the 2016 3-Nations International Wushu Championship in Lahore, where she won gold, the 2016 West Asia Wushu Championship, where she won bronze, the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, where she won bronze, and the 2019 South Asian Games, where she won silver.{{cite tweet |user=QuettaLF |author=Quetta Literary Festival |number=1539207278439854081 |title=Thread |date=21 June 2022 |access-date=6 February 2024}}
Her sponsorships were terminated in the 2020s, during a severe economic crisis, leaving her jobless.
Personal life and death
Raza was a member of the Hazara Shi'ite minority in Pakistan. Her son was partially paralysed by a stroke in infancy,{{cite news |author=Caroline Davies |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64822934 |title=The Pakistani hockey player who died in Italy shipwreck |website=BBC News |date=2 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}} after which her husband divorced her and she became a single mother.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1045289-pakistan-hockey-player-shahida-raza-drowns-in-italy-boat-accident|title=Pakistan hockey player Shahida Raza drowns in Italy boat accident|website=The News International |date=1 March 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}} According to her family and a teammate, when her son was three, she travelled via Iran and Turkey seeking asylum in order to obtain medical treatment and a better future for him.
On February 26, 2023, four months after leaving Pakistan, Raza died in a boat accident off the southern coast of Italy, with at least 58 other migrants, including at least one other Pakistani. According to different sources, she was either 27 or 29 years old.
Reactions
The Pakistan Hockey Federation expressed their condolences to Raza's family after her death was confirmed. The Chief Minister of Balochistan also paid tribute to her. The Italian Hockey Federation also expressed their condolences.
References
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Category:Pakistani women field hockey players
Category:Pakistani women's footballers
Category:21st-century Pakistani sportswomen
Category:Pakistani wushu practitioners
Category:Pakistani female kickboxers
Category:Sportspeople from Quetta
Category:Deaths due to shipwreck at sea
Category:Women's association football players not categorized by position