Mashfia Afrin of Bangladesh made history by becoming the country's first International Tennis Federation White Badge referee after passing the ITF White Badge Officiating School examination in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 24–28.
'She has been the first Bangladeshi to receive the ITF White Badge Officiating School certificate,' Bangladesh Tennis Federation administrator and Mashfia's father Mahmud Alam told the ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Sunday.Ìý
Mashfia, an 18-year-old former age-level international player, will now be authorised to organise ATF-approved international competitions.
Mashfia will also be able to organise the ITF World Junior (Under-18) Tennis Championship, ITF junior team events, Asian U-16 and U-14 tournaments, ITF U-12 and ITF masters series, and beach tennis competitions.
Sarwar Mustafa Joy was recognised as an 'ITF White Badge Chair Umpire' in 2000, which was Bangladesh's prior greatest achievement in tennis refereeing.
Mashfia also became the first Bangladeshi female referee to officiate international tennis games outside of the country, when she served as an assistant referee at the International Junior Tennis Tournament in Delhi and Kolkata from January 6-12 and January 13-19, respectively.
‘I was always interested to know the theoretical part of tennis, and that helped me turn into a referee... The experience I achieved in India helped me become a white badge referee,’ said Mashfia.
The ITF selected Mashfia to conduct matches in India after she top scored in the ‘National level Officiating School’ among 22 participants in December 2023.
She made her international debut as an assistant referee in February 2023, conducting games during the junior World Tennis Series at the Sheikh Jamal National Tennis Complex in Dhaka.
Mashfia received the first level refereeing certificate when the Bangladesh Tennis Federation organised the National Level Officiating School course in December 2022.
She called off her 11-year long playing career in December 2021 after representing Bangladesh in 18 international competitions, including national and age-level, since 2010.
She also took part in around 50 national tournaments, was the national champion in the U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, and U-18 age groups, and was a finalist in the women's category in the national tournament.
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