CHENNAI: There was a time when Express Shuttle Club used to organise the Krishna Khaitan All-India Junior Badminton championship in Chennai regularly. Scores of players benefitted from this tournament and it was a good opportunity for youngsters — in particular, those from the city — to impress one and all and get a good exposure.
Sanjiv Sachdeva, under whose ambit the tournament found growth here, took the project to Pune too when he retired from the Sports Authority of India (SAI). All this, however, is history. The city has had no major tournament to be proud of in the past years.
Yet, emerging as one of the most promising junior player in the country — all through sheer hard work and determination — is 16-year-old Sankar Muthusamy. Sankar, for his creditable performance in the national and international meets, won the Player of the Year for 2018 and 2019 (jointly with Rithvik) at the annual awards function of the Tamil Nadu Badminton Association held earlier this month.
In 2018, he became the first ever player from Tamil Nadu to win an Asian medal (bronze) in the Under-15 category. He also bagged two national titles and was ranked India No 1 in the Under 15 segment that season. In 2019, he jointly won the Player of the Year award, along with Rithvik, for winning several tournaments. “I am passionate about the game.
I want to be a professional badminton player. I know that you have to work very hard to achieve my goal. I am doing open schooling so that I can spend more time on practice and playing tournaments. I am fairly good at studies. I train under coach Aravindan Samiappan at Fireball Badminton Academy,’’ says Sankar. Aravindan has plenty of praise for Sankar and points to the youngster’s hard work and ability to grasp things and improvise as strong points.
“Sankar has always been eager to play in higher age group tournaments and this has helped sharpen his game,’’ insists Aravindan. A change of style in play has enabled Sankar to win Asian U-15 crown and a bronze medal in the men’s senior nationals. “Sankar has a defensive game style, with good rallying capacity of that of the old school of play. He used to be an out and out defensive player in sub-junior level but still bagged six national titles playing that way.
But, in past two years, he has vastly improved at the netplay and has started to attack more, which has seen him finish podium consistently at the U-19 level and in senior nationals as well,’’ reveals Aravindhan. “Since his smash is still not as potent, he has been working on counter-attacking skills and improving strokes from the rear court,’’ adds the noted coach.
Sankar has won a bronze medal in the national men’s event wants to regularly compete at the senior level regularly. He is preparing for the state championship to be held next month. “I want to do well in the men’s events. I am working with my coach Aravind sir. After joining his academy I have improved my game and fitness. I do a lot of bodyweight strengthening and wall practice. I am now working on rear court strokes. I am preparing for the state meet, which is most likely to be held next month,’’ signed off Sankar, whose idol is Lin Dan.