It was a reunion of sorts when some of the leading shuttlers descended on the Bhaskar Babu-MLRIT Badminton Academy at Dundigal near here. More so for the former women’s singles player, Neelima Choudhary, who was a trainee with the well-known coach P.U. Bhaskar Babu, formerly with the Sports Authority of India, at the peak of her career.
Among those who turned up to meet the well-respected coach included Parupalli Kashyap, 2017 Singapore Open champion B. Sai Praneeth, doubles specialist Sumeeth Reddy.
The meeting of hearts, as Bhaskar Babu put it simply, also meant going down the memory lane when Bhaskar Babu was attached with the Indian camps.
“The emergence of these players is the result of a wonderful system of coaching that is in place now, thanks to the initiative of the Badminton Association of India and the efforts of Gopi (chief national coach P. Gopi Chand). Many are following the lead shown by him in terms of setting world class academies,” said Bhaskar, whose most celebrated trainee was Chetan Anand, once ranked World No. 10 in the singles.
The players also shared their experiences and gave a few tips on how to be better players, to the young trainees at the Academy. The general consensus was that there is no substitute for hard work and one should set goals, to chase them with all sincerity, hard work and commitment.
Bhaskar Babu thanked the players for visiting his Academy and hoped it would inspire many to take up the sport with seriousness and also produce some champions.
MLR Group of Institutions Chairman, Mr. Marri Laxman Reddy and MLR Group of Institutions Secretary, Mr. Marri Rajashekar Reddy assured the academy of continued support for the promotion of the sport.
“Our objective is to produce more champions who will bring laurels to the country,” they signed off.
