Vinayak Padmadeo
New Delhi, April 26
In 2018, a 16-year-old Aakarshi Kashyap would sit in the gallery cheering for her favourite badminton player, Saina Nehwal, while dreaming of donning the Indian colour.
Four years later, Aakarshi’s dream is about to come true. The 20-year-old was selected in the teams for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Uber Cup.
“I can’t describe how happy I am to get selected in the Indian team. It seems my dream has come true,” Aakarshi said from Manila, where she is participating in the Badminton Asia Championships.
“I was part of the 2018 Asian Games but I was always in the gallery, cheering for the senior players. This time though I will play and I will give my best,” she added.
Having earlier missed out on playing for India at the Sudirman Cup and the Uber Cup after losing in the trials, Aakarshi left nothing to chance this time. She won all her seven matches in the trials to make it to the Indian team.
Like many others, Aakarshi’s training was also affected by Covid-19. She joined the Suchitra Badminton Academy in Hyderabad just months before the pandemic. However, the girl from Durg, Chhattisgarh, adapted to her situation.
“We all suffered during the pandemic. I did not play for a year-and-a-half. So as any athlete would do, I went home and worked hard on my fitness. I think that work is paying off now,” she said.
“Though I am from Durg, we reside in Bhilai, and sometimes it is an advantage to belong to a small city. It was a green zone as the infection was fairly contained so the playing areas were open. I had many sessions playing against two senior boys. The shuttle always comes back faster. It has improved my overall court play,” she added.
No more challengers
World No. 52 Aakarshi, whose target is to break into the top-30, has decided not to play challenger events anymore. Aakarshi said she wanted to play more Super 500 tournaments, and didn’t mind playing the qualifiers, which would draw her against higher ranked players.
“Playing prestigious tournaments will mean I am up against higher ranked opponents which will only be beneficial for me,” she said.
Aakarshi did not have an ideal start to the year. She lost in the first round at the All England Open, Swiss Open and Indonesia Open. During this period, she contracted Covid and had to stay in quarantine. Now fit and raring to go, Aakarshi is optimistic about her future.
“I lost all the first round matches. I was up against more experienced and higher ranked players but gave it my all and I was happy with my performance. I am only going to improve playing tough matches,” she said.
It helped her figure out which areas she needed to work on more. “I am very good at rallies but I was not able to finish them. Most of the time I was merely tossing it back. I need to finish the rallies and work on my jump strokes. It will happen for sure,” she said.
Playing against Akane
Her next big test is playing against world No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi at the Asia Championships tomorrow. Aakarshi is a big fan of the Japanese shuttler. “I have only seen her play on television. This would be the first time I will get to play her in any tournament. I am happy and excited for this match,” she said.
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