Hyderabad: Young Jakka Vaishnavi Reddy was, till Sunday, on the top of the world. Now, she’s punched through the stratosphere. Thanks to a brilliant singles victory at the all-India sub-junior rankings tournament at Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, the 12-year-old has catapulted to the top spot in the all-India girls under-13 rankings. It’s her fifth title of the year, after victories in national tournaments at Bhagalpur (Bihar), Rohtak (Haryana), Udipi and Sivakasi.
“I feel extremely happy with my performance. My opponent played well, but I read her game easily,” Vaishnavi said on Sunday after her triumph. In the final, Vaishnavi thrashed Maharashtra girl Saie Nandurkar 21-12, 21-16 for her fifth singles title of the year. Vaishnavi, a Class VII student at the Indus International School in Hyderabad, has also won three doubles titles, with Gayatri, the daughter of chief national coach Pullela Gopichand.
She trains at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, and is surely among the next crop of promising shuttlers ready to set the world stage on fire. “I started playing badminton in 2011,” Vaishnavi recalled. It was her father’s idea to pick up her first racquet and according to the youngster, it was a cakewalk from the start. “I used to play tennis earlier, so for me, it was very easy to play badminton. I became very good at it in a short time.”
Vaishnavi trains for almost six hours a day, stretching across three sessions and starting at 5.15 am in the morning. “I attend school when the second session finishes at 11 am. My school supports me a lot in my endeavour,” she said. On her training at the Gopichand Academy, Vaishnavi only has good things to say. “They have a great system. It’s really well-planned. Gopi sir, before the start of each session, tells us exactly how to go about things. I follow his instructions and that has paid off.”
On her fruitful partnership with Gayatri, with whom she has won national ranking doubles titles in under-13 at Rohtak and Bhagalpur (Bihar) and created history by becoming the first under-13 pair to win an under-17 title, at Kakinada. “I like playing with Gayatri,” Vaishnavi said. “She is very friendly and cooperative on the court.” “We are rivals in singles, but best friends in doubles,” she says with a laugh.
And on her plans for the future, she said: “It is my dream to make a career out of badminton. I want to become the No.1 player in the world.” And considering where she trains, that dream might well come true in the near future.
