Juniors set to shuttle into big league
rise of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth among others has led badminton to unprecedented heights in India. The Pullela Gopichand wards are not just household names now, they are also some of the biggest sporting icons of the country.
And icons are very important for youngsters, who look up to them in their crucial growing up years and dream of emulating their role models. The achievement of India’s top shuttlers has given motivation to several others to pick up racquets and become the new Sainas and Sindhus.
Some of the prodigious talents already announcing their arrival at the international stage are junior world No.6 Kartikey Gulshan Kumar, former No.1 and current No.10 Lakshya Sen in men’s singles and world No.4 Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka, No.10 Purva Barve and No.11 Aakarshi Kashyap in women’s singles.
“There is a big group of juniors who are showing a lot of promise. While I believe quite a few of them have what it takes to shine at the top, Lakshya has been pushing the boundaries at the senior level already,” said India international Ajay Jayaram.
“He has a good defence, consistent attack balanced out with a great attitude on court. He is also fit and hard working. If I had to put my money on someone it would be him.”
However, the biggest name in juniors who has made a significant mark at the senior level is Satwiksairaj Rankireddy whose contribution was significant in India winning their first ever mixed team gold at the Commonwealth Games in April. The 17-year-old also surprised everyone with his performance by winning the men’s doubles silver with Chirag Shetty in Gold Coast and the duo are currently ranked world No.18 in senior men’s doubles.
“Satwik has done remarkably well at the international level and that too at this age. He has changed the scenario of doubles. He is ferocious on court and nobody can judge his age when he is smashing, even seniors are scared of him,” said Mohita Sahdev, the last player from Delhi to play at the World Championships in 2015.
“When we were playing, (as a junior) Saina used to win senior tournaments. Nowadays, what I like most about juniors is that they are very courageous and fearless.
Ashmita Chaliha, Purva Barve, Gopi sir’s daughter Gayatri are doing really well.”
Apart from Rankireddy, who is also ranked world No.4 and No.8 in junior men’s and mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga occupy No.5 and 6 spots in men’s doubles.
Many juniors have already started showing their prowess at the senior level. At 18, both Siril Verma and Ashmita Chaliha overcame stiff competition to finish on the top step of the podium at the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament in Hyderabad on Sunday. Siril was also the boys’ singles runner-up at the 2015 World Junior Championships.