QL Exclusive: An interview with Qatar-based basketball player, Mizo Amin
Qatar Living speaks to the captain of Al-Rayyan Sports Club Basketball Team and Qatar’s national basketball team, Mizo Amin, to learn more about his professional journey.
Mohamed Hassan –who is professionally known as Mizo Amin- is a basketball player who grew up in Doha and is based here.
“The story of my nickname goes back in time. My mom had given birth to twins before me. Their names were Mizo and Mohamed. When they passed away and then I was born, my father decided to call me Mizo, but my real name was to be Mohamed,” he mentioned.
He started his professional career in 2008 when he joined the national team, and he was the youngest ever to play with the National Team at the age of 15.
“It was a chance for me to compete against legends and superstars, people who I used to idealize,” he said.
He joined Al Rayyan Sports Club for mini basketball in the early 2000s. Mizo has been representing Team Qatar since 2009 as he started his career at a very young age.
He holds a Bachelor of Marketing Management degree from Qatar University and graduated in 2017.
By supporting his team Mizo was able to help Qatar win eleven GCC tournaments, and on a personal level, in 2015, he was labeled as one of the top seven shooters in Asia. Additionally, in 2016 he was the top scorer for Qatar National Team in Tehran.
He was also ranked the best three points shooter in the Gulf Region.
“I have more than 22 gold medals, about 6 silver medals and 3 bronze medals,” he described.
His father is Hassan Abdelmaoty Amin, the former International Basketball player and retired Basketball Coach.
Mizo found the support from his family especially his parents. He mentioned that his mother has been a huge support and his father has been the reason why he became the person he is today, owing to his coaching skills.
“I remember I was going with my father to his practices and to the GYM. This is how I started playing basketball,” he said.
“My basketball life started from home; I remember having a huge picture of Michael Jordan on the wall of my room and I had incredible support from my family,” he added.
There is no success without challenges and Mizo reached where he is today after overcoming several obstacles.
“I have been through different challenges honestly, but the biggest challenge for me was building self-confidence. Being the 15 year old, whose name no one knew and competing with guys who had strong backgrounds and their names were well-known,” he described.
“Qatar 2005 and 2006, we had the team that went to the World Cup without me. So, later in 2008-2009, I joined the 1st men basketball national team camp and luckily, I was able to join them and had the opportunity to gain the coach’s trust. Even though I was younger than the other players, I was always looking to find my strength and what I can do. I was not the tallest in the team, I was skinny, and the most unexperienced in the team,” he recalled.
However, Mizo is so proud of his past as a part of his journey.
“If I can have the time machine and get back in time, and see myself, definitely I won’t change anything and I would tell myself, keep pushing harder and you are almost there,” he said.
Mizo does not only focus on basketball but is also into tennis, swimming, chess, and reading. He believes that a “Leader is a reader.”
He believes in time management as a tool of success, and he encourages all the young people to consume their time in a valuable thing.
“Our time on plant earth is very limited, so every second that we spend is not going to get back.”
Everyone was affected by COVID-19 and the new norms, and this is one of the things that we cannot ignore as it became a huge part of our lives.
Mizo was outside Qatar when the pandemic started and this period was not easy for him. He stopped engaging in sports and stayed at home for a while, like everyone else.
“It affected everyone and athletes specially, as staying at home is like staying in a cage. I remember we were in Iran when the pandemic happened and when we got back to Qatar, I remember we were the first team to be in quarantine. Being at home for 14 days and the gyms were closed, and you were not moving much, you were likely to gain a lot of weight,” he said.
“Personally, until today I have not seen my daughter Jude since the beginning of the pandemic. My daughter is growing up and borders have been closed and I lost a lot of time to spend a quality time with her,” he added.
Mizo concluded with a genuine advice to all the young people saying, “you have to have a dream and you have to work on it.”
To know more about Mizo Amin, you can check his Instagram page: @mizoamin and his website: https://mizoamin.com/
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