Sports India

Pune, May 26: ONLY a week ago, outgoing national badminton coach Vimal Kumar had claimed that selecting junior-level players in the Indian squad in place of experienced seniors was premature, with the former being unprepared to play in tournaments like the Philippines and Singapore Open events.

And now, the first “junior” to contest this claim to some extent, has been his own student at Bangalore’s Prakash Padukone Academy, and city lass Sayali Gokhale
Playing in her first international tournament at the senior-level, the 19-year-old stunned fifth seed and World No. 29 Ana Rice at the Phillippines Open on Wednesday.

“I didn’t know she was the fifth seed, so that helped a bit!,” said Sayali, speaking to Sportline from Manila.

And though she lost the subsequent match to Japanese shuttler Ai Goto, it was nevertheless a perfect start to her international career at the Senior level, when Sayali rallied from a game and 16-20 down against Rice to fight back and turn the match in her favour.

“The confidence went up. But I could have played much better in the second round,” she says.

Sayali admits her inclusion in the squad considering her “virtually nil” experience at the senior-level had been a “shock”, but the feeling was soon replaced by the determination to live up to the expectations. “We knew we had been take on with the aim of developing the junior-string of players in focus,” says Sayali, who played in only her first Senior national tournament in February this year and put on a hearty fight against stalwart Aparna Popat. “So obviously, much was expected.”

However the youngster is quick to play down her initial success.

“It’s nothing great to beat a non-Asian player. I want to prove myself against the Asian players who are better. So there’s still a long way to go,” she says. Sayali was among the first batch of students taken on at the Padukone Academy’s feeder centre in Pune in 1999. A promising junior, Sayali won the All-India Chipalkatti Memorial Under-19 title in 2002 as a 15-year-old, and two years later went on to claim a silver in the Youth Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

The state’s top-ranked junior in 2005 however was still a surprise name on the Badminton Association of India’s team-list for four tournaments in Asia, which left out seasoned stars Trupti Murgunde and Aparna Popat. But now having made her presence felt, the youngster is keen to make the most of the opportunity. “This whole experience is new for me. I want to learn as much as I can,” she says.

Next up is the Indonesian Open, where Sayali will have to first play the qualifying rounds. The task is tougher and the youngster would want to outdo all expectations again, including her own.