Gayatri ,The Rising Star
She has seen just 12 summers but the talented Gayatri has already caught the eye with two under-17 doubles titles with Jakka Vaishnavi Reddy in the national ranking level tournaments. She has illustrious parents, former All England champion Pullela Gopichand and Olympian PVV Lakshmi, as perfect role models and inspiration.
With badminton running in her veins, promising Gayatri is taking solid and steady steps to stardom. After winning her maiden national ranking doubles title at Kakinada last November, the seventh class student of Glendale School, bagged one more at Dehradun on Monday. She has thus became the youngest badminton player in India to win two national ranking titles at the age of 12.
It was a proud moment for the Pullela family and Gayatri’s grandmother Subbaravamma was on hand to witness her granddaughter’s marvellous feat. “We could not see Gopi’s first national title days but I have the satisfaction of having watched his daughter achieve the feat,’’ said Subbaravamma, who travelled to Dehradun as Gopichand was busy on national duty as coach at the World Championship at Jakarta in Indonesia while Lakshmi was here looking after son Vishnu.
The journey
As an eight-year-old Gayatri got attracted to badminton when she and her brother Vishnu, one-and-half year younger, would accompany their father to the academy. “They used to play in our small garden initially but when they went to the academy, they got more interested in the game. They got up at 3.30 in the morning and were at the academy with their father at 4:15 am. This has become a regular routine since then. The two along with other trainees go through the seven-hour drill,’’ said Lakshmi.
The first feel of a State tournament for Gayatri came in 2011 at Vijayawada. “In her first tournament she lost in the second round. But thereafter there was a marked progress in her performances,’’ said Lakshmi. In the last two years she has won titles in under-13 and under-15 categories. She is number one in National under-13 ranking while 17 in National under-15 ranking.
Lakshmi feels Gayatri is developing as an all-round player. “She is an attacking player and is good at the net. She plays some amazing strokes. She is mentally very strong like her father. She is very cool even in trouble.’’
Does Gayatri discusses the game with parents? “She does. She is more close to her father. She asks him few finer points and with me, she talks about mannerisms of some players. She watches all important matches on the television,’’ said Lakshmi.
Coach Siyadat feels Gayatri is a good learner. “She has the speed and endurance. She has also the power and is very sharp at the net.”