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| Sahra Hassan |
Sahra Hassan, from Newport, south Wales, hopes to crack the Ladies European Tour this season after being recognised for her role as a successful Muslim woman in sport.
Hassan, 25, was named UK sportswoman of the year 2012 by the Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation at Wembley Stadium last May and was presented with her award by FA chairman David Bernstein.
The night honoured female role models from the Muslim community who have made sport more accessible: an achievement that Hassan rates as the proudest of her career.
Hassan turned pro four years’ ago and is in her second year competing full-time on the European Ladies Tour.
She started playing golf at Tredegar Park in Newport aged 13 after taking a three month break from tennis, which she’s been playing since she was four years old. After immediately getting hooked, she never looked back.
“It was unusual for a girl to play golf, but Jo Pritchard was also a member there but a bit older than me. I played a lot with the boys which I’m used to… I’ve grown up with all boys in my family so it never bothered me going out there with the boys,” she said, adding that she would like to be a tennis player or a police officer, had her career not been in golf.
So far this year she has been to Australia, New Zealand, China and Morocco. Next week she will jet off to South Africa for the South African Women’s Open at Southbroom Golf Club in KwaZulu-Natal next week, an event in which she tied for 40th place last year.
“My goals for this year are to win an event or at least a few top 10s and top 5s. And just to keep improving on my game,” she said. “It would mean the world to me to win on the LET, a dream come true.”
And she is certainly putting in the training. Hassan plays three times a week; practices every day and works out at a Cardiff gym every day with her trainer.
“I’m working on power at the moment, so mainly my down swing and impact through the ball,” she said.
She is currently ranked 455th in the world but hopes to break through into the Ladies European Tour’s winner’s circle this year.
