Aim is to be in the top 20, says shuttler Sankar Muthusamy

Express News Service

CHENNAI:  Former junior world number 1 Sankar Muthusamy on Sunday became the second Indian male shuttler to claim a silver medal at the World Junior Badminton Championships after he went down fighting in the summit clash against Chinese Taipei’s Kuo kuan Lin in Spain.

The BAI promptly on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for Sankar. The way the Chennai lad prepared himself and with his potential to surprise top ranked players one expected Sankar to bag the gold. But that was not to be.

Nevertheless the 18-year old is happy with the performance and believes that he will be rich from the experience. “It’s a good feeling to bag a medal (silver). The match (final) was quite tough, but I managed to pull through,” said an elated Sankar from Paris before boarding the flight to India.

Sankar from a young age has had lot of exposure playing abroad. He has, at times, travelled on his own and has shown the knack of adapting to various conditions and environment. Even during the pandemic he has played in tournaments abroad and thus one expected him to bag the gold for he is familiar with the circuit. “Expectations were certainly there. But I didn’t get the proper rhythm throughout. I was able to play my game only in patches,” revealed the youngster.

Players from China, Chinese Taipei, Korea and Indonesia are always good in racquet sports. So one needs to prepare meticulously and take one match at a time and go up the ladder without putting pressure on oneself. “. I just went about my usual drills to hone my skill-sets. Always my strategy is to take one match at a time and not put pressure on myself and it worked,’’ he explained. Sankar credits his success to his association with Fireball Badminton Academy. It is here that he learnt the ropes of the game and made a mark.

“I am training under Arvindan sir at the academy. My game has improved a lot since I joined the academy. Nevertheless it is a great feeling to bag a medal for the country and my training at the academy before the event came in handy. For fitness I train with Deepak. The season (last year or so) has panned out well for me. I became junior World no 1 and I am in the verge of getting into the top 100 in the men’s (seniors). My aim is to get into the top 20 in the men’s rankings,” signed off Sankar.

<br /> CHENNAI:  Former junior world number 1 Sankar Muthusamy on Sunday became the second Indian male shuttler to claim a silver medal at the World Junior Badminton Championships after he went down fighting in the summit clash against Chinese Taipei’s Kuo kuan Lin in Spain.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad843 " id="quads-ad843" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="4374041191"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>The BAI promptly on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for Sankar. The way the Chennai lad prepared himself and with his potential to surprise top ranked players one expected Sankar to bag the gold. But that was not to be.</p> <p>Nevertheless the 18-year old is happy with the performance and believes that he will be rich from the experience. “It’s a good feeling to bag a medal (silver). The match (final) was quite tough, but I managed to pull through,” said an elated Sankar from Paris before boarding the flight to India.</p> <p>Sankar from a young age has had lot of exposure playing abroad. He has, at times, travelled on his own and has shown the knack of adapting to various conditions and environment. Even during the pandemic he has played in tournaments abroad and thus one expected him to bag the gold for he is familiar with the circuit. “Expectations were certainly there. But I didn’t get the proper rhythm throughout. I was able to play my game only in patches,” revealed the youngster.</p> <p>Players from China, Chinese Taipei, Korea and Indonesia are always good in racquet sports. So one needs to prepare meticulously and take one match at a time and go up the ladder without putting pressure on oneself. “. I just went about my usual drills to hone my skill-sets. Always my strategy is to take one match at a time and not put pressure on myself and it worked,’’ he explained. Sankar credits his success to his association with Fireball Badminton Academy. It is here that he learnt the ropes of the game and made a mark.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad843 " id="quads-ad843" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="4374041191"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>“I am training under Arvindan sir at the academy. My game has improved a lot since I joined the academy. Nevertheless it is a great feeling to bag a medal for the country and my training at the academy before the event came in handy. For fitness I train with Deepak. The season (last year or so) has panned out well for me. I became junior World no 1 and I am in the verge of getting into the top 100 in the men’s (seniors). My aim is to get into the top 20 in the men’s rankings,” signed off Sankar.<br />