Anupama Upadhyaya of Panchkula becomes national badminton champ

Tribune News Service

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, February 28

Anupama Upadhyaya of Panchkula will never forget the February of 2023. She not only turned 18 this month but also made the biggest achievement of her badminton career. Today, she became the national badminton champion.

She has become the first girl from the district to win a national championship. At present ranked 4th, she will now attain the top rank in the next Badminton Association of India (BAI) rankings.

Anupama defeated Gujarat National Games Champion Aakarshi Kashyap, from Chhattisgarh, in the neck-and-neck final of the 75th Inter-State-Inter-Zonal & 84th Senior National Badminton Championships in Pune. Aakarshi (India No. 3 and world No. 42), has been part of the national women’s team that won gold in the 2019 South Asian Games. She won the first set by a whisker (22-20) against the challenger from Panchkula. However, Anupama bounced back in the next by logging a 17-21 win.

The decider remained a see-saw battle with both players giving their best to grab the title. Anupama started on a good note by taking a 3-7 lead. She extended her lead to 6-11 to come close to the title. However, supported by the local crowd, Aakarshi bounced back and reduced Anupama’s lead to 15-17. Thereafter, she won two back-to-back points to level the scores at 19-19. Anupama, who was facing a tough time in collecting points, somehow, managed to muster courage. She remained calm and pushed Aakarshi to her limits. Finally, she recorded a 24-22 win to become the national champion. In the last senior nationals (held in 2019), Aakarshi, who gave a tough fight to Anupama, lost her semifinal against Assam’s, while in the previous edition, she went down against Saina Nehwal in the quarterfinals.

From swimming to badminton

Anupama first started playing badminton when she was sent to a summer camp by her father, Naveen, a former cricketer. After making her learn how to swim for a while, Naveen decided to introduce her to badminton. Hailing from Almora (Uttarakhand), she started training under DK Sen (father of 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen).

“During the last set, there was a moment when I started facing the pressure. However, after losing two points, I decided to keep my calm and play my natural game. She (Aakarshi) was a very tough opponent, and in no other way was I going to win, except keeping my calm and playing my natural game. I would like to dedicate this win to my father, who always travels with me during the tournaments,” said Anupama.

In the 2022 India Open Super 500, New Delhi, she got a taste of what it’s like to compete at the senior level. “I played against Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min. I was fine in the first set, but she was very fast in the second and third set, and I couldn’t match her power. It was then I realised the need to improve my strength.”

What’s next for her

After this feat, Anupama will play in the Thailand Challenge from March 7 to 12, followed by the Vietnam Challenge from March 21 to 27. She will be playing in the Spain Masters 300 Super Series from March 28 to April 2, followed by Orleans Masters 300 Super Series from April 4 to 9. Last year, she won her first-ever senior ranking tournament at Visakhapatnam. She is currently ranked 62 by the Badminton World Federation with 19,950 points. She was ranked 65th after winning the 2022 Polish Open and later won the Poland Challenge (Arlamow).

Rs 5-lakh cash award

President of the Haryana Badminton Association Devendra Singh has announced a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh for Anupama. Vice-president of the Badminton Association of India and Haryana Badminton Association general secretary Ajay Singhaniyan said Anupama made the state proud. Jatinder Mahajan, general secretary, Panchkula District Badminton Association, also announced that the association would honour Anupama.

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