CHENNAI: What is sacrifice? Ask Subramanian, father of budding badminton player S Sankar Muthusamy. The civil engineer quit his job last year at Chennai Port Trust to help his son accomplish his dream to be a badminton player for India. Having clinched a bronze medal in the recent Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Indonesia, the city boy is ranked No 2 in India in the sub-junior category.
The 14-year-old started playing at the age of five. Results have been promising. Sankar won the national sub-junior championship last year to become No 1 in the country in the category and also won national-ranking events in Kurnool, Kakinada, New Delhi and Tirupur.
For the student of DAV School Mogappair, the 20x44 court is the classroom, where he spends hours every day. “I stopped going to school since last year. I only go there to write exams. I want to focus totally on my game and I have no pressure from my parents about academics. I allocate four hours for practice and two hours for fitness at the gym,” says the player, who trains at the Fireball Badminton Academy.
Sports runs in Sankar’s veins. His father played tennis for Tamil Nadu. His elder sister Lakshmi Priyanka is a badminton player, who was ranked No 10 last year in the national U-17 category. “My family is my motivation, mainly my father. He comes for every match that I play. He makes arrangements and makes sure nothing hinders my performance,” says Sankar. After quitting his job, Subramanian started the Glitters Badminton Centre in Padi in 2017.
Apart from talent, Sankar has other attributes which make him an outstanding player in his age group. “Sankar always thinks out of the box. He is a good defensive player and it’s rare to find a teenager as patient as him. These are the qualities which set him apart and helped him win gold in the nationals last year,” says his coach Aravind Swamiappan.
Two badminton players at home would mean competition. Is there any rivalry between his sister and him? Sankar says no. “There is no competition as such. I follow the instructions of my coach and want to be the top player in our country in future.” With focus, determination, and support from the family, this teenager looks good to make headlines in future.