Guwahati: Speaking of left-handed shuttlers, the first name that instantly flashes in one’s mind is Carolina Marin, the Rio Olympics gold medallist from Spain. Visually not the most elegant of players, a feature usually associated with southpaws, the three-time world champion is a very fierce opponent on the court, tactically very astute and knows how to use the lefty advantage.
Over the years, Marin has had her share of ups and downs, including a personal setback when she lost her father in a road accident and has battled two ACL injuries before bouncing back in style. Needless to say, there are many players across the world, more so in Spain, who idolize the shuttler’s never-say-die attitude.
A critical feature of Marin’s game is her on-court aggression, something that many coaches would expect their wards to inculcate, and one such is India’s latest badminton sensation Ashmita Chaliha, the southpaw, who was picked in India’s Asian Games badminton squad after the conclusion of the trials on Sunday.
Also let’s not forget, Ashmita had in a previous interview listed Marin’s contests as her go-to motivational hack besides encounters featuring Lee Chong Wei vs Kento Momota. Both Carolina and Ashmita have distinct differences in their style of play, so no comparisons between the two!
Touted as one of the most promising shuttlers in the country, city girl Ashmita is all set for a second appearance at the Asian Games after grabbing the top spot in women’s singles trials held at the Jwala Gutta Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.
A leftie blessed with a range of exquisite attacking shots, tricky deceptions and quick approaches to the net, the 23-year-old will be a part of the women’s singles squad led by two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and also includes the likes of Anupama Upadhaya (who finished second to Ashmita in the trials) and Malvika Bansod.
During the four-day long trials, Ashmita and Kidambi Srikanth, the 2021 World Championship silver medallist, remained unbeaten in their six matches, to eventually top the charts as the selectors named a 19-member squad for the mega continental event in September-October.
According to the format, nine men’s singles players and eight women’s singles players had entered the trials for three spots each, while there were four entries each in men’s and mixed doubles and three in women’s doubles. The singles players were divided into two groups in stage 1 with the top-two players in each group going to stage 2.
Ashmita, took up the sport at the age of seven after her businessman father, Dhruba Jyoti Chaliha, also a former tennis player, could not spot a tennis academy closer to their residence, and decided to enrol her in another racquet sport.
Coaxed by her father, a hesitant Ashmita hesitantly joined the badminton academy at the Kanaklata Indoor Stadium of the RG Barua Sports Complex in the city and gradually started to develop an interest in the sport once she started winning tournaments at the state and national level under the watchful eyes Indonesian coach Edwin Iriawan and later India’s Suranjan Bhobora.
Ashmita gained prominence in the national scene after her first senior ranking badminton tournament in Hyderabad in 2017 and soon found herself in the Indian team for the 2018 Asian Games in the women’s team event but the team lost to the eventual gold medallist team Japan in the quarter-finals 1-3.
India finished their campaign in the quarterfinals of both the men’s and women’s team events in the 2018 edition. The Guwahati lass soon proved her worth by winning the 2018 Tata Open India International tournament, a BWF International Challenge tournament, and the 2018 Dubai International tournament. Ashmita was selected for the 2019 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships where her team reached the quarter-finals.
At the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal, Ashmita won the gold medal in the singles event by defeating compatriot Gayathri Gopichand and then in the team event by defeating team Sri Lanka in the gold medal match.
In 2020, when sports across the globe were brought to a standstill due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ashmita was among the thousands who suffered a nasty bout of Covid, and later a bunch of injuries that muddied her return to action in 2021.
Ashmita made it to the quarter-finals of the India Open but lost to her compatriot, the legendary Sindhu (7–21, 18–21). At the Syed Modi International, Ashmita gave a walkover in the first round to compatriot Malvika. Ashmita reached the semi-finals of the 2022 Odisha Open before losing to Smit Toshniwal.
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Selected for the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships, she won both her matches but overall her team lost both contests of the group stage and eventually failed to reach the knockout stage. At the Swiss Open, she entered as a wildcard and reached the second round before losing to seed no.8 Kirsty Gilmour 18–21, 20–22. She had a first-round exit at the 2022 Orléans Masters losing to Putri Kusuma Wardani 17–21, 21–19 and 14–21.
Now that the shuttler has got another opportunity of representing India at the Asian Games, there will surely be a burden of expectation. Only time will tell whether she takes a cue from Marin’s attributes and lives up to the expectations.
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