Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Muthusamy enters junior badminton Worlds final
NEW DELHI: To say that Sankar Muthusamy is obsessed with badminton would be an understatement. Since taking up the sport at six, the Chennai boy hasn’t gone on a vacation in the last 12 years.
“I don’t remember any family vacation after he started playing badminton. Even the couple of times we’ve visited our native place in Thoothukudi, we’ve had to drag him. His sole thing in life is badminton,” Sankar’s elder sister Priyanka Subramanian said from Chennai.
Even when he was out of action in 2019 due to a knee injury, Sankar fretted over not being able to play. His family kept insisting that he take a break. “He would just keep watching badminton videos all the time,” his sister said.
It was this drive that took the 18-year-old to the verge of the men’s singles title in the BWF World Junior Championships in Santander, Spain. Sankar scored a dominant 21-13, 21-15 win over Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul to march into the summit clash, the fourth Indian—the second male player—to do so. Sankar will face Kuo Kuan Lin of Chinese Taipei in Sunday’s final.
Aparna Popat was the first, reaching the final of the World Junior Championships in 1996 before finishing with silver. It took 10 years before another Indian reached the final, Saina
Nehwal also ending up with silver. Saina ended the wait in 2008 when she became the first, and till date the only, Indian to win gold. Siril Verma was the first male player to reach the final, seven years ago, losing it.
Though his opponent was aggressive from the start, the junior world No 4 countered with calmness and racquet subtleties, playing a percentage game to be in control throughout the 40-minute tie at Palacio de Deportes de Santander.
Teeraratsakul, a member of Thailand’s Thomas Cup team in May, started strongly, attacking and smashing almost all the shots of Sankar. The Indian, a former junior world No 1, stayed calm and kept the shuttle in play, and the frustrated Thai was frustrated and lapsed into errors. With both shuttlers being lefthanders, there was no advantage they would have had playing against a right-hander.
Sankar did not try anything out of the box, just played smart and exuded confidence, making sure he not just remained in control but also never lost the lead in the first game. Sankar’s game and his own inability to find winners despite his attacking game irritated Teeraratsakul, who continued to make errors, handing easy points. Sankar’s subtle stroke production and deception stood out as he made even difficult shots look easy. He started to pull away, opening up a big gap and pocketing the opening game on his first game point. In the second game, neither player conceded more than a point’s gap early on. Both pushed each other to the limit which resulted in some fantastic long rallies.