What’s the story?
One of the principal objectives of the pan-India Premier Badminton League (PBL) is to give the budding talent in the country a rare opportunity to watch and learn from the very best. During the ongoing Bengaluru leg of the PBL-2, India’s premier doubles player, Ashwini Ponnappa has echoed the same thoughts, pointing out how the PBL has been successful in inspiring young kids who can pick up so much just by observing the stars.
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“The best part is that the league takes all these top players to different cities. We have a lot of kids from different parts of the country joining academies and playing. So, when all of us go to different cities, we also go and practise,” said the Bengaluru Blasters ace during a media interaction.
“When we are practising, a lot of the youngsters do get an opportunity to come and watch us play and also if they are lucky, come and play with us and help us out.”
Also Read: Jwala Gutta slams Indian federation and media for lack of support to doubles players
Ashwini also underlined the fact that rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s elite international players can do a world of good to the Indian shuttlers. She admitted to benefitting from her and Sikki Reddy’s training sessions with the Korean doubles greats Ko Sung Hyun and Yoo Yeon Seong.
The latter have shared their expertise and insight and that has been extremely valuable for Ponnappa and Reddy.
“Even for us, Indian players, it’s quite amazing to actually interact with all of them. This morning, Sikki and I were playing mixed with Ko and Yoo. It’s amazing how much insight they have into mixed doubles and they were helping us out and correcting us. We got to learn so much from them,” the 27-year-old said.
In case you didn’t know...
Former Commonwealth Games women’s doubles gold medallist Ashwini Ponnappa put in impressive performances during the second edition of the PBL. She proved that she can be quite a handy player even in singles.
Ponnappa brought forth some splendid shotmaking to unsettle the reigning Olympic singles champion Carolina Marin before losing in three games in Bengaluru’s match against the Hyderabad Hunters.
Her performance earned plaudits from the entire badminton industry with many even singling her out as a possible India No. 3 singles player after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.
The heart of the Matter
The experience of training and learning from the top stars is simply priceless. India’s current No. 1 men’s singles player Srikanth Kidambi revealed that then Indian Badminton League boosted his confidence a lot when he got to play with the biggest shuttlers at the age of 20 back in 2013.
This year, talented teenagers like Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made quite an impression when they got to appear for their respective teams. Needless to say, this stint will be very useful for them as they continue to climb the top echelons of the sport.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Ponnappa’s endorsement is extremely important as Indian badminton continues its quest to be a global superpower.
With the influx of some of the most popular names from the sport coupled with excellent organisation, there’s no doubt that the PBL can motivate more kids to take up the racquet and follow in the footsteps of Saina and Sindhu.
