Parupalli Kashyap: The rising star

It’s the time when young talent is booming in India and making our country achieve new heights in international sporting arena. The young guns have changed the face of the Indian sports not just in the field of cricket, but other sports like boxing, table tennis, lawn tennis and even badminton. Youngsters have come up in every discipline giving it a balanced growth which has considerably increased in the past few years.

Indian sports have gained a much wider reach over the years. After the success of the Indian athletes at London, many sports have gained an attraction from the masses. This is seen as a positive leap towards the growth of sports in India. One such sport is badminton. Here I’ll be talking about the rising shuttler of our country: Parupalli Kashyap.

It was a time when Indian badminton was devoid of a male star and when Saina Nehwal was on a roll beating the top seeds in the women’s draw which is generally shared by the Chinese players and Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan controlled the men’s section. Talking about the Indian contingent it was Chetan Anand, P. Gopichand and now it’s the time for a new face to shine in the men’s shuttler group and according to me, P. Kashyap is the correct choice.

P. Kashyap started playing badminton at the age of 11 when other kids of his age would probably not know what badminton is and he was out in the courts hitting shuttles and sweating it out to achieve something in the line he choose for himself. When his family moved to Bangalore, he joined the Padukone academy at Bangalore. When they moved back to Hyderabad, he started training under Indian coach P. Gopichand. But as the saying goes – no one knows what’s next. It was the same case with him. He was diagnosed with asthma which might have ended his career in the sport. There is another saying as well- results are sweetest when achieved with patience. His determination for the game along with proper medication for his illness ensured that he was not kept at bay from his racquets. He eventually emerged victorious and started playing harder on courts thus proved the saying right. From there on, there was no looking back for Kashyap. He went on to win the Boys Junior Title in Andhra Pradesh in the year 2005, and from 2006 he started playing at the international level. The young shuttler emerged victorious on court beating much higher ranked player on court. He even beat Chetan Anand and went on to win gold for his state at the 33^rd National Games.

I saw Kashyap playing for the country at the 2010 Commonwealth Games at New Delhi, India. I was a sports-specific volunteer. He has the peace and calmness in his face and the look in his eyes show the determination he has for the game and for the country. Off court, he is a totally fun guy. He enjoyed a lot with this team mates and other players as well and he went on to win the bronze medal for our country. It’s his hard work, will and determination that has helped the young shuttler reach this point and he surely has a long way to go.

His success continued at this year’s London Olympics as well. He created history by becoming the lone Indian player to reach the quarter finals in badminton. Although he lost the match, he won the hearts of many players both on home soil and foreign soil as well. He has reached a career high of 19 at present.

It won’t be too long before we see another shuttler rising to the top 10 rankings and Kashyap is the best prospect. He is a player with a high potential and deserves more of what he has achieved. He will surely pocket more trophies at the international level and it won’t be long before the Indian flag flutters at the podium and our national anthem is played.

To sum it up, all I will say is – all the best to this Indian shuttler.