How Arvind Bhat became Indian badminton’s most unconventional champion

Arvind Bhat kissing the German Open trophy

It took almost half an hour in fact for him realise the magnitude of his win. These were some of his initial reactions.

"Initially for the first 30 minutes or so I was quite cool. Also since I had trained myself to think like a champion I behaved like one. Not too much excitement, not showing it too much. Just a cool demeanour. I had promised myself in the 3rd set the same too. No celebration if I win. But after about 30 minutes all hell broke loose. But only inside of me. I was like 'I did it!' I did what was unexpected and I did something which none of my peers had done,” he exclaimed.

He didn't stop there. “Only a handful of Indians had done this before me. Maybe about 8-10 people only. So I felt like Top 10 all time greats of Indian badminton. I felt good and proud, but all inside of me. Nothing outside. Post 2 hours I had lots of congratulatory messages from some unexpected quarters. It looked like many people in India had watched it live simply because there was a cricket match of India which India had lost against Pakistan. So the disappointed crowd were channel surfing and found my win satisfying. "

In 2006 we were in the Indian team for the Hong Kong Open. This was my first Senior Super Series event. He was my team-mate for a lot of great tournaments (from left to right): Arvind, Me, Saina Nehwal, Ajay Jayaram, P.Kashyap, Anand Pawar, P.Gopichand, Anup Sridhar.

All players have their own story. What makes Arvind's story different is that he did not start his career as a normal sportsman would. He had never played a high level of badminton till he reached the age of 22. He didn't have any wins at the junior level to build his faith on.

There are struggles, challenges, sacrifices, frustrations, injuries in every player's life, and Arvind had to face it all after 22 years of age. Being a champion is not age-bound. He always found a way to get past everything and get to his dreams. It took him close to 12 years to realise his goal but he never lost sight of the goal till he finally achieved it.

Arvind's journey teaches us a lot of lessons. Lessons about belief, about fighting society's norms regarding age and careers, about making your own rules and sticking to them, about patience, about perseverance, about fighting the battle within and keeping the demons in check.

Arvind announced his retirement recently, knowing he had fulfilled his destiny, and with no regrets. His German Open win will always remain an inspiration. Arvind Bhat is etched in history with the stars of Indian badminton where he will always very rightly belong.

You can read more of Aditi Ajay Mutatkar’s writings here.