Coming from Mizoram, Saitluangpuia hopes to take large strides in badminton
Last yr in June, when Saitluangpuia Sailo contracted Covid-19 at his Aizawl dwelling, the Mizoram shuttler needed to spend greater than per week in an area dispensary adopted by an isolation ward. The teenager would spend his time in dispensary and isolation centre watching movies of two-time Olympic and five-time world champion Lin Dan on Youtube or asking his father Saizama Sailo, who works as a PWD driver, to get him some badminton gear from the Myanmar border.
On Thursday, because the 16-year-old teenager scored a 15-10, 15-7 win over Dhiren Yadav of Haryana within the boys’ singles u-19 second qualification spherical on the opening day of the twenty ninth Yonex Sunrise Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking Selection Tournament at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, the SAI-Gopichand National Academy trainee would head to the spectator gallery and as soon as once more get busy in watching Dan’s movies on his telephone.
“I had gone home from Hyderabad and contracted Covid-19. I spent more than a week at the local dispensary and isolation centre and the only thing I would do to keep me busy was to watch Lin Dan’s matches on my phone. My father often travels to the Myanmar border and also sells some imported goods in Aizawl to support my finances and he would also get me some t-shirts and badminton strings to keep me motivated. Their motivation keeps me going,” shares the teenager.
Saitluangpuia would begin taking part in badminton on the Ramhlun Indoor Stadium beneath coach Lalchhuanawna on the insistence of his father. While the teenager was not critical concerning the sport in his preliminary days on the stadium, he would change into one of many high gamers amongst the 30 odd trainees on the stadium. After changing into the Mizoram U-11 champion in 2016, the teenager would characteristic in U-15 rating tournaments.
A primary spherical loss within the U-15 class within the Sub-Junior Nationals in Orissa in 2018, however, a SAIb scheme noticed him being chosen for SAI-Gopichand National Academy in Hyderabad, and was adopted by 5 wins earlier than a loss within the second spherical in foremost draw of the All India U-15 Ranking Tournament at Guwahati in 2019 aside from a second spherical look in Singapore Youth International the identical yr and a fourth spherical look at a global junior tourney in Thailand.
“The Ramhlun stadium had three courts and with more than 30 trainees, we had to wait for our turn for practice. It meant that I would go to the stadium after my school hours to get some extra time for practice at the courts before training sessions. When I got selected for the Gopichand Academy under the SAI scheme, it also relieved my family of having to think about finances for me. I would observe Kidambi Srikanth sir during his training hours and would also make videos of his half smash and backhand to observe later,” shares the teenager.
Last yr, Saitluangpuia performed in his first ever senior rating match at Hyderabad the place he scored 5 wins within the qualification rounds earlier than the primary spherical loss in opposition to Balraj Kajla. This yr, the teenager made it to the primary draw of the All India Junior rating Tournament at Bengaluru final month earlier than he misplaced within the second spherical in the primary draw.
“When he initially came to us, he had the stamina but lacked the attacking shots. So we had to work on his speed and control. As his shots got stronger, he had better control too over the shuttle. The main challenge for him now is to make a smooth transition into the senior level and he needs to gain more speed as well as more deceptive shots,” mentioned Anil Kumar, coach at Gopichand Academy.
