CHENNAI: Devika Sihag is stoked at the moment. She had a valid reason to be. A few of the cream of the national circuit had assembled for the Senior Badminton Championships at Bengaluru and she eclipsed some more-touted names to capture the women's singles crown on Tuesday.
It's a timely boost for Devika, who had struggled to stay afloat in recent times. After a promising start to 2024, where she captured the Swedish Open (January) and Portugal International Championships (March), her form had ghosted her in recent times. August and September, especially, had been gruelling as she had suffered first-round exits - a big no for any aspiring shuttler looking to climb the ladder. It's little wonder that the World No 79 was pleased with her campaign. "I'm really happy with this outcome as I was not performing well in the last few tournaments," Devika told this daily.
Representing Haryana, Devika, who was seeded 13th, got the better of Shriyanshi Valishetty (12th seed) 21-15, 21-16 in the title-deciding contest. Aakarshi Kashyap (No 1 seed), Anmol Kharb (No 3 seed), Tanvi Sharma (No 5 seed), Anupama Upadhaya (No 2 seed) and Isharani Baruah (No 7 seed) were some of the more-touted players who were part of the women's singles draw. Devika, who trains at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, had upset Tanvi in Round 4.
The victory does not guarantee success in the future but it is bound to add to her confidence. Sagar Chopda, one of the senior coaches of the PPBA, is hopeful that the 19-year-old can soldier on to win bigger battles in the future. "It's a good achievement. Winning a national title is not a joke. You can win a lot of All-India tournaments, but it is very difficult to win the senior nationals," he remarked.
"If you look at the national circuit, there's very little to differentiate between the top players right now. Anybody can beat anyone. Devika was probably much fresher than the rest. Some of the rivals had played back-to-back events and that helped her. The shuttles were extremely fast (during the event) and maybe, that also suited her. She managed to attack more than most," he added.
Besides, Chopda was impressed with her ability to find solutions in-game and the way she dealt with pressure while dealing with players junior to her. "Some of the matches were very close (for Devika). She struggled against Sreshta Reddy (Round 3). Then she played three games against Rujula Ramu in quarterfinals. Also, she played against Adarshini (Shri NB). Both Rujula and Adarshini are part of PPBA and junior to her. There's always a bit of pressure to perform (against juniors). Keeping all that in mind, she did very well," he concluded.
Other results (finals)
MS: M Raghu (KTK) bt Mithun Manjunath (RLY) 14-21, 21-14, 24-22; MD: Arsh Mohammad (UP)/Sanskar Saraswat (RAJ) bt Naveen P/Lokesh V (TN) 21-12, 12-21, 21-19. WD: Arathi Sara Sunil (KER)/Varshini VS (TN) bt Priya Devi Konjengbam (MNP)/Shruti Mishra (UP) 21-18, 20-22, 21-17. XD: Ayush Agarwal/Shruti Mishra (UP) bt Rohan Kapoor (DLI)/Ruthvika Shivani G (PET) 21-17, 21-18.