Who is Poonam Chaturvedi
Poonam Chaturvedi is the tallest ever Indian female basketball player. She is 7 feet tall. Born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh, but she represents Chhatisgarh. She has proved herself as a strong competitor against opponents’ teams as it becomes difficult for them to grab the basketball from her. Though she has feeble arms, still she overpowers the opposite team on the court.
She has played the following matches with many others: Youth India 2011, Junior India 2012, 3×3 Junior India 2013, Senior Asian Cup 2017, and many more international level Tournaments. The name of her coach is Mr. Rajesh Patel. She is not only Indian but the tallest Asian basketball player.
Poonam Chaturvedi works with Indian railways now and coming across as a good player in the Indian female basketball team. Her head and shoulders always stand above the rest of the players and one can easily notice her game on the court. Poonam Chaturvedi has always made people turn heads and crane necks to get more glimpses of her easy games.
Personal Life
Poonam Chaturvedi was born on 1st July 1995 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Her father Mr. Shriram Chaturvedi works as a constable with the Uttar Pradesh police. Her mother is a homemaker. She has a younger brother and Poonam loves to shoot funny reels with him on social media. As per Poonam Chaturvedi, her height is a gift from her parents. Both her parents are above six feet tall.
Her Favourite Basketball Player
Poonam Chaturvedi’s height is more than many of the famous NBA players like Muggsy Boguses and Roy Hibbert. But she does not have a favorite player even from NBA. She wants to be a champion herself.
Poonam Chaturvedi’s Introduction to sports
She has been playing basketball game since 2009. She passed her tenth standard from a school in her locality and began playing it in her free time. Her friends and kids in the neighborhood used to be intimidated of losing the game because they knew that Poonam Chaturvedi’s height would overpower them. One of her uncles watched her game on a weekend evening and advised her parents to let her go ahead in this sport. Then she started living in a hostel and began giving her trails at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur.
Entry of Poonam Chaturvedi into Basketball Team
While playing in Kanpur, Poonam received a call from Mr. Rajesh Patel (then coach of Chhattisgarh Women Team). Applauding her height, he offered a place to her in the Chhattisgarh team. Poonam was also feeling that Kanpur stadium was not able to give away access to state-level or national-level sports. Later she went to Chhattisgarh and started playing for it in 2009.
Poonam’s talent helped the Chhattisgarh women’s basketball team won the Federation Cup Basketball in 2014. While she was in Chhattisgarh, people were interested to know more about her. Few of them thought that she had some hormonal imbalance problem and others thought that her height is hereditary. All of them were pleasingly amazed when came to know that she is a hoopster on the basketball team.
Strength and Weakness of Poonam Chaturvedi
Strength
When opponents see that the ball is in hands of Poonam, they become sure that it could be out of bounds now. The rest of the players stand below her waist and her height intimidates them of losing the game. While playing, she does not need to jump, and the rest of the players cannot reach even her chin. Also, Poonam’s sheer dedication towards her work sets her apart. She played and scored even though when she was having intense brain tumor pain.
Weakness
Her body is feeble and her arms are not strong compared to other players. She is pushed by the opposite team players because she cannot run as fast as other team players. As per her coach, she needs to be fitter and gain weight.
Poonam Chaturvedi Diet and Exercise
Being a vegetarian, Poonam does not have strong muscles and is not able to lift heavy weights. Her food choices are not very simple. Due to this Trainers restrict her to do heavy workouts like squats and lunges. As per her coach, she needs to work on her body structure.
Strategy of the Indian Coaches to Utilize Poonam’s Height
Poonam Chaturvedi is usually placed in the center while playing on the basketball court. Her height is evidently the most visible advantage that can be used against opponents, but she has frail arms and skinny stature. She usually plays low and goes high only after catching the ball.
As soon as she catches the ball, she raises it higher and higher and now the basketball goes out of bounds. The other players and generally up to her waist level and it becomes difficult for them to defeat her in this situation. Her usual before every match is to stay low and go high only after catching the ball.
Poonam Chaturvedi’s Difficulties for Daily Regular Life
Poonam Chaturvedi has spindly arms and a feeble body structure. Due to her tall height and infirm stature, her body easily swings and flails when she runs or collides with other players. She is usually pushed around in the gaming court. Daily activities like sitting in a car, finding a bed she can be fit in, and entering a room are some other daily obstacles in her life. As per Poonam, the most difficult part of her life is finding a pair of shoes for her. Her shoe size is 14 that is not very easy to find.
On the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Asia Cup, Poonam Chaturvedi and her teammates joined two sarees together to drape her to attend the event. It was a funny incident for her and her teammates. Due to Poonam Chaturvedi’s height, her teammates need to stand up on chairs to talk to her.
Poonam Chaturvedi’s Disease and Brain Tumor
While her height has eased her entry into the National Basketball team, she has already faced a lot in her personal life. She had a malformed upper lip since birth; hence she could not speak properly as a child. She went through operations two times with various minor surgeries for this.
In 2014, Poonam Chatuvrvedi was diagnosed with a brain tumor. As a result, she began suffering from severe headache pangs. At the initial stage, the size of her tumor was 3.1mm and late it got reduced to 2.1 mm and gradually. Poonam had been undergoing Ayuvedic brain tumor treatment since 2013 and her health showed drastic improvement by 2019.
She was completely cured of the tumor in 2019. The Ayurveda treatment and Japanese Acupuncture Magnet Therapy cured her, but it caused a lot to Poonam. Her Coach Mr. Rajesh Patel was always optimistic about her disease that one day she would be completely and fine and he has always shown confidence in her. Poonam’s stellar performance in basketball matches impressed people in Chhatisgarh a lot. The Bhilai Steel Plant promised to bear all the expenses in her treatment. Also, The Basketball Federation of India was always in support of Poonam. The federation looked after everything from treatment to medical expenses.
The impact of Poonam Chaturvedi’s disease on her life
Poonam Chaturvedi’s life is not a cakewalk as many people say that she has got an easy entry into sports due to her height. Her life has been full of ups and downs. When Poonam was all set to represent Chattishgarh at the National level, she came to know that a tumor was breeding in her brain. She used to feel severe twinges in her head at that time. But she put all of her personal health problems aside and just jumped into the basketball court. She did not sleep that night and was just finding out a perfect plan that how she can put her momentarily issues away from her professional life.
At that time, the Senior National Basketball Championship clashed between Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Poonam Chaturvedi was going through a turbulent time due to her medical issues, still, she achieved match-winning 44 points for her team. It was a very important match for her. She did not want to step back at any cost. She had to deliver a good show on any terms on that day. Though her team won, Poonam was not happy with her performance. It was a senior tournament, and Poonam had scored a maximum of 67 points before in a junior match. Notching up only 44 points was not going very well with Poonam. She had not been feeling well for the last week had headaches right through this match as well. Still, she played for a duration of 40 minutes and came out as a winner.
While the match was going on, the Karnataka team set two to three players marking her and yet turned out to be the victor. After the match, during an interview, Poonam confirmed that she was feeling acute pain and did not take many breaks throughout the match. Exuding confidence, Poonam told the media that when she is feeling good, it becomes very difficult to stop her. India’s tallest ever basketball player helped her team whenever it needed her.
Film Making around the Story of Poonam Chaturvedi
When the Chhatishgarh team played well and came out as a winner, Indian producer, and erstwhile Miss Universe Lara Dutta decided to make a movie particularly around this match and the life of its players. It would surely be a movie of different background female players who dared to dream something different. It will indeed be a great movie that highlights and glorifies the life of such players.
Coaches feedback about Poonam Chaturvedi
Scot Feleming
The head coach of India’s Senior Men’s National Team said that it is really amazing to see when a player can single-handedly score 20-30 points. And that’s too without much effort. He applauds her improvement and dedication.
Frencisco Gracia
The head coach of India’s Senior Women’s National Basketball Team is also impressed with the girl. She considers it a challenge for defenders when Poonam is around. She doesn’t need to jump as her opponents cannot even each her chin.
Rajesh Patel
In the words of her coach, Mr. Rajesh Patel, Poonam has emerged as a big boost for the sport in the country. She attracts attention and helps popularize the sport. Her Tallness is the most obvious quality; however, she needs to work on agility over the coming time.
Poonam Chaturvedi is a hidden gem in Indian sports. She has proved her mettle many times. She has fought not only with the outer world but inside her own world too. During her childhood, kids mocked her many times for the infirm structure. Poonam Chaturvedi knows how to turn adversity into quality.
