17-year-old Panchkula shuttler Anupama Upadhyaya shines

Deepankar Sharda

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Panchkula, September 6

From breaking into the worlds’ top 100 shuttlers to becoming world’s top ranked player, 17-year-old Panchkula shuttler Anupama Upadhyaya has come a long way in just six months.

Anupama attained top rank in the junior rankings issued by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Tuesday. She is now World Number 1 in junior rankings with 18.060 points in 18 tournaments.

Achieved a milestone

I am really happy today. I have achieved a milestone. Now, the next target will be to break into the top 40 in the senior category. Last six months have been good for me and I have won a number of championships. — Anupama Upadhyaya

In March this year, she held 65th rank after winning the 2022 Polish Open 2022. In January, she jumped 43 spots to grab the 84th rank in the same rankings.

The upgraded rankings have been issued at the time when Anupama is preparing to represent the county in the Junior World Championship in Santander (Spain) from October 17 to 31.

“I am really happy today. I have achieved a milestone. Now, the next target will be to break into the top 40 in the senior category. Last six months have been good for me and I have won a number of championships,” said an elated Anupama.

She said: “My focus is now on the Junior World Championship. I needed a podium finish to retain the top rank in the junior’s category. This is a dream come true and I wish to keep living it for a longer period of time.”

She is currently placed at the 63rd spot in the BWF senior rankings.

Before playing the Junior World Championship, Anupama will be playing in the Raipur and Nagpur International Championships and also in the Vietnam Open.

“Before going to Spain, I will be competing in these three championships. The performance will not affect the rankings. However, these events are important in terms of getting practice before the Junior World event,” said Anupama.

Earlier this year, Anupama had won the Poland Challenge (Arlamow) and also reached the semi-finals of the Syed Modi India International Super 300 series. She won the Infosys Foundation International Challenge Tournament and had also played in the quarterfinals of the Orleans Open, a super 100 series tournament held in Orleans (France) and played semis in the Pune Junior International Grandprix. In this championship, she lost to eventual winner Saranuk Vitdsarn of Thailand. Recently, she claimed second position in the Haryana Senior State Championship in Panchkula.

Besides participating in international events, she will also play in the North Zone Tournament in Jammu from September 8 to 11. The Nagpur International is scheduled from September 13 to 18, followed by Raipur International from September 20 to 25 and Vietnam Open from September 27 to October 2. Anupama trains at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Bengaluru, under coach Vimal and mentor Prakash Padukone.

Jatinder Mahajan, secretary, Panchkula District Badminton Association, congratulated Anupama on attaining the top rank.