Zobera Rahman Linu

Zobera Rahman Linu (Bengali: জোবেরা রহমান লিনু) is a famous Bangladeshi table tennis player. She is the only Bangladeshi sportswoman to have her name listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.^[1] Linu is a national Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in Bangladesh.

Early life and career

Linu started playing when she was 8 years old. In 1974, her father encouraged her and her sister to participate on a Table Tennis Championship. She became runners up with her sister becoming 1st. The most successful year for her has to be 1977, as she stood championship in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. From 1979 – 2001 (24 years in a row) she won 16 national championships which is the best ever in any country in the world. She stood 5th in 1980's Asian Table Tennis Championship which took place in Japan.

Achievements

Linu has won the national table tennis championships in the individual category 16 times, which is the most by any sportsperson in any country of the world. From 1977 to 2001 (24 years in a row, excluding 1981, 1998 and 1999), she won 16 national women's singles titles in Bangladesh as a table tennis player. This feat was inaccurately mentioned in The Daily Star (local newspaper of Bangladesh) as being in the Guinness World Records, however it was corrected later on.

Notes and references