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State selection badminton in Pune: Bending backwards to keep on a forward move
A measure of how serious badminton has become is the elaborate, almost detail, fitness routine that these young players imbibe; all in the hope of one day, being the next PV Sindhu.
PV Sindhu, a badminton super-star and among the world’s top 5 players made it to Forbes’ highest earning women’s athletes list. Badminton is now serious money, fame and... fitness??!!
Eons away from the Sindhu stratosphere, at the Modern Sports Complex in Pune on Friday, the Yonex Sunrise Maharashtra under-13 and under-10 state selection badminton tournament is on.
A measure of how serious badminton has become is the elaborate, almost detail, fitness routine that these young players imbibe; all in the hope of one day, being the next Sindhu.
Nobody here is playing the sport as a hobby, not yet least.
Ravindra Shinde is a 20-year-old senior baddie and at the Modern complex, he is mentoring young shuttlers.
“Players need to stretch after the match otherwise the body will face issues in the next match. As much as you are mentally tired after a match, in the same way your body is also tired, so you need to relax your body,” explains Shinde, as he puts 11-year old Shaurya Mane through the paces.
“Young players need a push for physical exercise. They might try to avoid it, but as a senior player if you are guiding them then there should be no excuse. Today there is tremendous competition in the under-9 and under-10 categories and to keep playing fast you have to keep your fitness level very up,” says Shinde.
Under-10 and under-13 badminton players are very serious about fitness drills. And with good reason.
“Badminton is all about movements, so you need to be very keen about maintaining fitness. Warm up and relaxation play a very important role,” says Suhas Nayse, father of Sairaj who is participating in both, the under-10 and under-13 categories at the Yonex Sunrise Maharashtra under-13 state selection badminton tournament at .
Sairaj lost in the third round of the under-13 category, and reached the pre-quarterfinal round of the under-10 category.
“Match was tough and I like physical training,” says Sairaj, as he cools down.
Yashraj Kadam, who won his under-13 round three match against Konark Inchekar 21-8, 21-14 adds, “Fitness and match practice are equally important. We have a strict physical trainer at our academy and we follow our routine regularly. Skipping and running we do daily.”
Easy win for Natu, Kadam
Vedant Natu and Yashraj Kadam secured easy victories over their respective opponents to enter the fourth round of under-13 category.
Natu knocked out Neil Joshi, 21-4, 21-6, in just 15 minutes, while top seed Kadam took 26 minutes to overcome Konark Inchekar.
“It was a very easy game. Opponents kept making mistakes, so I did not have to fight hard to win the match,” says Natu, whose drop shot is his wweapon of choice.
Kadam made things harder for himself before closing the match.
“I made mistakes in the second game so the match went longer,” says Kadam, who favourite shot is the smash; it’s his backhand he needs to improve.
