Having fashioned a racket out of cocksheet from a fish container and collected discarded shuttlecocks, then third-grader Mustakim Hossain began his badminton journey in 2014 before his mother, who works as a domestic helper, gifted him a racket worth Tk 250 to provide a real taste of the game.

Just a few months ago, the now tenth-grader was forced to peddle rickshaws to afford treatment for his parents. This past Friday, he embraced glory in the South Asia (U-15 & U-17) Regional Junior Championships in Assam by winning Bangladesh a maiden gold medal at this level.

Mustakim paired with Sifat Ullah Galib to beat the Indian duo of Garg Abhinav and Koundilya Prateek in the boy's doubles final.

Mustakim has had numerous benefactors during this time, ranging from his family and neighours to the upazila education officer and Thana Nirbahi Officer (TNO) of the Birampur Thana under Dinajpur district. Yet, he still wants for food, equipment, training and accommodation to realise his dreams of representing Bangladesh at senior level.

"In the beginning, my family could not support me because my father is a rickshaw-puller and my mother is a domestic helper. So, they could not provide much support although my mother managed to buy a racket worth Tk 250 for me when I was a class four-student," Mustakim told The Daily Star yesterday.

"After two years, I bought another racket worth Tk 300 by saving the money I got for tiffin. Neighbouring uncles who played badminton during the winter also helped me. The thana education officer, TNO and Engineer Sarwar Alam also helped me come this far by providing money and facilities."

Mustakim participated in three federation-sanctioned tournaments but failed to produce good results in 2021 before becoming champion in the inter-school championship in February this year, thereby getting into the national age-group team.

"I could not participate in July's national badminton championship because I had returned home from the Sarwar Badminton Academy. I went to Dhaka and drove a rickshaw for two months to bear the cost of treatment for my father and mother. I got the good news that I was selected for the age-group national team one month after returning to the Sarwar Badminton Academy, where I get free facilities."

He concluded: "My dream is to represent the country well at the international level, but my family is not well-off. If I am given food, equipment and facilities, I believe I can deliver more for the nation in the coming days."