Field Of Dreams

For badminton champion ANUPAMA UPADHYAYA, hits and misses are a part of the game. As she navigates the landscape of the sport, she shares her inspiration and challenges with Shraddha Kamdar

-  Shraddha Kamdar

She made headlines when she reached the coveted World No. 1 spot in the BWF junior rankings in badminton in 2022. She was announced as the National Badminton Champion in 2023. She idolises her seniors in the game and is proud that she is able to follow their footsteps and play alongside them. She is a huge fan of Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. And she is working hard to advance her game training with the renowned Coach Park Tae Sang.

Her most recent victory was at the Orlen Polish Open International Challenge in March this year. Badminton player Anupama Upadhyaya, 19, is all of this and more as a sportsperson, who, besides badminton, enjoys watching lawn tennis the most and is inspired by the game of Novak Djokovich. "I love watching him play! His game is something else; he plays as if he is a 20-year-old! What flexibility, what a mindset!" she gushes as she talks about the champion.

We caught up with her on a sunny morning, and she opened up about her training, challenges, and dreams.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

For any sport, you have to train young. Can you tell us what got you into badminton?

During the summer of 2014, my parents wanted to enrol me in some sport. The weather determined it would be badminton, since we had to avoid outdoor sports due to the heat. At that time, I used to go to the Yamuna Sports Complex in Delhi. After my hour of training, I would see teams playing; I was fascinated watching the players in their skirts just going for the shots. That was the moment I decided that I would play badminton professionally.

How did your parents react to the decision?