P.V. Sindhu’s progress to the singles final at Rio 2016 on her Olympic debut made a little friend back home very happy.
Sanjana Santosh, who recently moved to Hyderabad’s Pullela Gopichand Academy, where Sindhu also trains, called her mother, Beena Santosh before and after Friday’s women’s gold medal clash. Sanjana excitedly told her about all the media crews at the academy, Ms. Santosh said, and that Sindhu and Srikanth K. (men’s singles quarterfinalist) had busted the myth about Indian players cracking under pressure: “She was clear that the performance in Rio by seniors at the academy had raised the confidence level so much that every dream was achievable.”
The Mumbai teenager, who has been marked out for intensive doubles coaching at the national camp in progress in the academy, moved to Hyderabad in May, after the Badminton Association of India decided to locate its camps there, under coaches Tan Kim Her (Malaysia) and Yonathan Dasuki (Indonesia). Before the shift to Hyderabad, Sanjana, an alumna of Jamnabai Narsee school and H.R .College, trained under Uday Pawar at his academy.
“Uday is a noted coach and we were happy with the arrangement,” Sanjana’s father Santosh K., a footballer employed with Income Tax, Mumbai, told The Hindu , “When the federation locates the camps in a particular place, you have to attend. Gopichand is in overall charge and trains the singles players. Foreigners work with players identified for doubles. Sanjana plays women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She is part of a group of 18 girls and 20 boys at the camp.”
The proud parents visit the academy regularly to meet their daughter. “Sindhu’s parents invited us and Sanjana for dinner on our previous visit before Rio,” Santosh said. “We wished her success on her first Olympic appearance. India is proud of her.”
Sanjana is a good student — “She scored 97 per cent in SSC with self-study under her mother’s guidance and 93 % in HSC,” says her proud father — but now, badminton be her priority. Sanjana will be away from home, parents and friends for a long stretch; the young trainees will proceed to Europe for a tour to Belgium, Czech Republic and Poland. “We feel empty coming home from work and nothing to do,” admits Santosh, but he is looking at the brighter side: “Training is systematic in Hyderabad, four sessions a day with food and rest breaks. Sindhu also trains at the academy, sometimes they are hitting on adjacent courts. She gets to practice with Ashwini Ponappa, Jwala Gutta.”
2016 is Sanjana’s first season in the senior ranks and she is already making a mark, with a mixed doubles quarterfinal place at the Senior Nationals in April and women’s doubles semifinal at a Pune tournament.
London 2012 saw Saina Nehwal win a bronze in the women’s singles. Sindhu improved on that in Rio with a silver. For Sanjana Santosh, her eyes are focussed on gold in Tokyo 2020.
