She has the privilege of picking up a few tips from the biggest names of Indian badminton – Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu - at the Gopi Chand Academy as she trains on the adjacent courts along with them.
And, not surprisingly, Samiya Imad Farooqui’s confidence is on a high after her gold medal performance in the just-concluded ABC junior championship under-15 category in Myanmar.
For the record, Ashi Rawath (girls under-15 singles), M. Keyura and Kavipriya Selvam (girls under-17 doubles) and Ayush Raj Gupta and Shubham Patel (boys under-15 doubles) won a bronze each for India in the championship.
Samiya, who joined the Gopi Academy in 2010 thanks to her father Mohd Imaduddin’s support (who interestingly played with Gopi in the Inter-university championship) just to keep her fit, has impressed the chief national coach after a couple of months so much that he felt she should pursue badminton.
“We were all pleased with the hand-eye coordination she showed at a very early age and the best part is she really works hard and has the desire to keep improving,” feels Nagam Anil Kumar, one of the many unsung coaches at Gopi Academy who actually grooms the young talent and who was with her.
“This being my first international gold, I am delighted and should help me in realising bigger dreams,” says Samiya in a chat with The Hindu.
“Honestly, I never thought of the gold but as always tried to give off my best. I am happy that I could raise the game under pressure quite a few times as I was more patient than before,” says the young champion.
“Yes, winning the quarterfinal against the Japanese Kaoru Sugiyama was the turning point of this championship,” says the ninth standard student.
“I love to attack and my strong-point is the half-smash. Yes, I have still a long way to go but now more confident,” says the smiling Samiya, who incidentally won a doubles bronze (partnering Pullela Gayathri) in the last ABC juniors.
“I owe a lot to all the coaches at the Gopi Academy and to Gopi Sir especially for all the support and scientific training. I think joining the Academy is the best thing to have happened to me,” signs off the young talent.