An ace shuttler Aakarshi Kashyap continued her tale of being victorious by winning the women’s singles title at National Games 2022. She is an Indian badminton player who was selected to be part of the Indian team at the 2018 Asian Games. She was part of the national women’s team that won the gold medal in 2019 South Asian Games.
We spoke to her exclusively and below are the excerpts:
Q. You and PV Sindhu are the two ace single players as of now in the Indian Badminton team. How special is this to stand next to an Icon and being counted the ‘second best’?
A. It makes me happy, but at the same time it comes with a huge responsibility lying on my shoulders that people’s eyes are on me after PV Sindhu. I am working very hard to meet people expectations and to meet my expectations which is to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics, I will do well in that.
Q. People often mistakenly consider you as one of the relatives or some extended family member of the ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap, as you share the same sir names and career, what you have to say?
A. (Laughs), No it’s absolutely wrong. I don’t have any relative connections with him. I do call him Bhaiya like a player to player or a senior to junior.
Q. Please discuss your immediate goals?
A. My immediate goal is to improve my world rank and be amongst the Top 35 this year and also to do well in super badminton tournaments which I will be playing like Australia Open and also some International challenges in which I am going to participate. Currently, my goal is to perform outstandingly well at the International forum. It counts a lot and will also boost up my confidence to prepare for Olympics and all.
Q .How much does the ranking affects you?
A. Yes, it does affects me. Ranking is important for players as it’s a kind of achievement and then secondly ranking is what makes you consistent. For instance a person belongs to a higher rank because he or she was constantly performing brilliantly in the past few tournaments in the past few years so that’s how it works. Sometimes, what happens that if some player is having a bad day or the player is not able to play decently or gets injured, so they might lose to a lower ranking. But that doesn’t means that the person with the lower rank is less talented or one with the higher rank does not deserve to be there. It’s all fair.
Q. How are your preparations going on for the Asian Games and Paris Olympics?
A. I am working very hard and doing three sessions in a day which comprises of morning training and two playing sessions. For Asian Games they will conduct the trial again I hope so. I will try my best to qualify for that and personally I am trying to cut on as many distractions as I can.
Q. Have you been told to amend your game strategies, in a healthy way to improve your game and make it unbeatable for upcoming tournaments?
A. People usually say that I don’t have attacking skills. So i am everyday trying to develop more strokes .I am working on it rigorously, I take coach’s and team’s advice. I have pretty much improved on it, but the thing is that I am not able to perform the same strokes at times on the court which I efficiently perform during the practice matches. So, my focus is to showcase the same zeal and strokes on the court as well while playing the tournament.
Q. How does it feel to win a gold medal at national Games 2022?
A. A big breakthrough indeed! Because I wasn’t winning much off lately. Like I lost in Nagpur and Raipur. So this Gold Medal clinch has again fuelled me and I am trying to continue with this spirit.
Q. How did Gujarat treat you and how were Gujaratis to you, because sports stars have really some good things to say about everything there.
A. Of course, they will. I too will endorse the same. It was festive time, Gujarat looked so colorful and vibrant. It’s an amazing place with super amazing people. Full of humility and helpful attitude. They were supportive, friendly in nature and were very sweet in speech. Even, the hotel where I was staying, its hotel staff made me feel as special as I reached there, they presented me a traditional welcome dessert of theirs. And on the D day when I won the gold medal, they surprised me with a cake with congratulations written on it.
Q. Did you accompany PV Sindhu in Dandiya Ras in Surat where all the icons including Neeraj Chopra danced till the heels broke?
A. No No (giggles), I didn’t go. I was in the tournament so don’t do such things when I am in a competition. Also, we just flew back the next day so there was time crunch too.
Q. How was the event, as the other players too have appreciated the way National Games 2022 was organized?
A. Everything was just perfect. Even the volunteers were very supportive. My father didn’t have the accreditation card, so they helped issuing one for my Father in no time. Of course, they issued cards for many private coaches without any formalities. So making things convenient for us.
Q. Who is your inspiration?
A. There so many people, Srikanth Bhaiya (S. Kidambi) and Sindhu Didi (PV Sindhu) and Lin Dan (the Chinese Badminton player) is my ideal.