Ashwini Ponnappa, who returned with a mixed team gold and women’s doubles bronze from Gold Coast, thanked coach Gopi for keeping her motivated. (Photo: PTI)
She ended with a hard-earned gold in the team event and a bronze in women’s doubles, but Ashwini Ponnappa was on the badminton court at Gold Coast from Day One through to Day last. India’s first ever mixed team gold at the Commonwealth Games was headlined by the singles players, but it was the crucial Ashwini Ponnappa-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy mixed doubles win against Malaysia in the final that set up the top podium.
Ashwini talks to The Indian Express about shepherding young Satwik in that crucial match – talking a fair amount in the process, playing 4 matches in a day, her struggles with dengue that felled her at the Olympics, how this CWG was all about team spirit, and how it all ended with India’s finest medallists from badminton, TT and squash, unwinding on a girls’ night out to sign off a glorious campaign. Excerpts:
How does it feel to lead India to that team gold medal, given you and Satwik scored the crucial mixed doubles win?
It feels great Satwik and me managed to win that match, because it was important that we got off to a good start. That more or less determined how the tie would go. It really gave the rest of the team mates the confidence to go into their match. We knew we needed to get at least one doubles win for the team, if not 2. Because Srikanth was up against a tough opponent in Lee Chong Wei. We were confident Saina would win her match. But we knew we needed one minimum win from doubles. It was quite tough but I really believed the two of us could do it and believed we’d not give up till the end. Winning the first match, was a good start. Entire team atmosphere was of positivity whether it was team mates to support staff to coaches. We started well, then of course Srikanth played that incredible match and Saina won. On the whole from the very beginning, everyone worked incredibly hard, worked together and contributed to the team dong well.
What do you remember most from the match?
We were down in that third game, the fact that we got back to 11, matched them on scoreboard and then went forward, that itself gives you confidence. We had to hang in there and stay focussed, taking one point a time. I remember just jumping around and getting extremely excited and asking my poor partner who hits really hard to smash from all weird angles! He did the job really well. I had the belief that we could beat them because Satwik has a really hard smash and I knew I had to give him the best support possible on court.
Was there a moment when you had to tell Satwik to calm down or rev it up and talk to him constantly?
I think out of sheer excitement I spoke a lot. I knew we could win and really wanted us to win that match. It was important to us. Because of that I over-spoke! But Satwik being Satwik would just listen to me. I was like ok yea, Satwik let’s focus on getting this one point, let’s do this, let’s do that. He’s a sweet kid so he happily listened to whatever I was saying. I think when I play with Satwik, I end up speaking a lot. I feel I need to say something or me speaking constantly maybe helps us play well. Luckily for me, he doesn’t get bugged with me saying much, so it’s good.
The match had some lighter moments…
Yea, during the match, one point I flick served flat, and out of sheer excitement my racquet fell out of my hand which was quite funny. I remember jumping a lot on court and in Telugu, saying kotu which means hit. So I kept telling Satwik kotu, kotu from all angles.
Did you sense the burden of leadership in that final?
I never really thought of it that way. At the start of the tie, Satwik and me – because it wasn’t just me it was two of us – the fact that we hung in there and could pull off that match definitely gave confidence to teammates. Singles players are always expected to do well and it’s always on their shoulders but there was responsibility on doubles as well this time to atleast pull off that one match and give them support, give them the confidence that yes we do have chances of winning this tie. Having said that it was an amazing tournament where I got a lot of advice from Gopi Sir and Coach Tan that really helped. This time the CWG was a lot more also about how the coaches handled all the players , the kind of feedback we got and of course the support staff that ensured our bodies were well looked after and taken care of.
How tough was it to play 4 matches in a day?
Going into that semifinal on Saturday I was honestly not expecting to play four matches, because I was gunning for us to win those semis. It was quite hard because once you lose the semifinal, it’s quite disappointing and you need to have a lot of mental strength to snap out of that and come back and get ready to fight for your bronze medal match in couple of hours. On that day I was at the stadium from morning all the way upto night. That’s the day physios and coaches really boosted my confidence and gave me support, helping me relax and unwind, get through a loss, overcome that. I still remember Gopi Sir saying, ‘listen I know you’ve lost the match, it’s hard but it’s important to put your head together right now and focus on winning this, because a medal is a medal. It could be a bronze but at the end of the day it’s still a medal.’ Stuff like that helped me snap out of it. I’m pretty sure that if the bronze medal match was next day, there could’ve been another bronze in mixed doubles. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t give my entire best for the mixed doubles match. But I’m happy I got out of the court injury-free because of the physios who helped with recovery.
What breakfast took you through that long day?
I ate a lot of things at breakfast. I ate a lot throughout the whole day. When your body is tired you don’t feel like eating much. But the minute I would start eating, I’d end up finishing it. When your body is really tired, you just go with the flow. But more than physically being tired, mentally you get very exhausted. Four matches and three losses is a lot in a day. Not easy to take. You learn a lot from a loss, but to snap out of it and get on the court is quite hard.
How different was this CWG from the two before?
It’s very different. Of course the first was great. The second a little disappointing because we didn’t win gold. But this was very different in a very unique way because I felt the sense of being a part of the team, of one big unit where we all worked together and were happy that we did it together. Where there was lot of positive energy as a lot of us hung out together. That atmosphere and that feeling I’ve not felt in a very long time. This CWG felt nice that way.
How’s it partnering Satwik?
We started last year, but hadn’t played too many tournaments in last three months. Our first tournament this year was the CWG. Having said that he’s still a youngster, but towards that last match, he gave a lot of support and showed understanding. Playing doubles is a partnership between two people. It’s never just one person, no matter what… it’s always two people on court who need to have that understanding. Satwik is brilliant. He would tell me we need to work on this, get better at that. That communication is important. Even if he’s a youngster, he’s got a lot to say. He plays a lot of men’s doubles, and he wants to share that experience and gives those insights to me. I know we’re going in the right direction.
How challenging were the last two years – the ups and downs?
It’s been quite a roller coaster ride for me in terms of being physically fit, strong. It goes back to dengue and coming out of it with ups and downs. Having some really good performances one tournament, and then going down the next because your body is not there yet. But I feel the last few months I’m stabilizing a bit on my physical fitness which feels great. That gives me lot of mental confidence that the up-and-down phase is over and finally things are headed in the upward direction. It’s nice to have my husband (Karan Mendappa) come to Hyderabad and spend time with me and being supportive of me. Because he’s also into fitness and loves sport. That also makes things easier. Because in the past when I was here in Hyderabad, being alone and away from family and friends was quite hard. Now I can just put my head down and work, and having him around helps.
Does he play badminton?
He’s more of a runner, he runs marathons. He likes to play tennis. He was a tennis player but stopped many years ago. He loves sport, so that helps a lot. He understands what I go through. So when I’m down, he understands how hard it is and how to come out of it. There’ll be times when the serve isn’t going well, and he’ll be like ‘oh ya… are you messing up here’. He has that sense of the game because he has played a sport.
How tough was returning from dengue?
Dengue was a little frustrating. The lowest low is that there’s no proper understanding of what exactly a disease like dengue does to your body. No one really has a good sense of what it is. I mean I had dengue back in 2016 and up until last year I was having issues with my body. At the end of the day there is no proper explanation as to what’s happening. It’s not like an injury that you can see and understand. Or take xyz actions and it’ll get back. Here physically you look alright but when it comes to lifting weights, my shins were aching, my smash wasn’t up to the mark or I couldn’t generate strength, that’s upsetting because my game revolves a lot around strength and my physical ability. And with that not being there it was demoralising. It was like will I ever be able to hit hard again? I wasn’t feeling the strength to defend as I used to before. Not understanding or having an explanation or reason or idea on how to go about it. All I could do is be disciplined with my training and I was fortunate that my strength and conditioning coach Deckline was understanding. He was patient, we would work upto a certain level on physical fitness, and then I’d get a cold and come crashing down and we’d start from scratch. He didn’t get impatient and frustrated with me. He was positive. It’s hard because you want your body to be strong, you want to be fit and out there giving your best, but not being able to do that is hard to handle.
Doubles has lamented lack of support earlier. Have things changed?
It kinda feels great that doubles is being highlighted, I won’t deny that. It’s nice that your efforts are being recognised. Helps motivation to work hard. Especially as you get older, you need something to motivate you to get up everyday go there and work hard and give your best. If that motivation isn’t there it gets tough. For someone like me, I’ve been independent. If things don’t go my way, I can very well sit and say I don’t want to train. But the fact that I need to be in Hyderabad, put my head down and focus on what I need to do, is a huge thing. And that comes only if you are encouraged and pushed.
What were congratulatory messages like?
It was really nice that Gopi Sir acknowledged the efforts that Satwik and I put on court or that Sikki and I put on court, that doubles players put on court that made me happy. Getting older you are pushing yourself and there’s more to come and it’s good to hear the kind words you hear on social media.
Did you get to watch any other sport at all?
I didn’t watch anything else. From the first day till the last day, every single day I’ve had a match and we were at the stadium. But one of nicest things I enjoyed about CWG this time was all the girls getting together – Saina, Sindhu, Sikki – Ruthvika wasn’t there unfortunately – but four of us going out on the last day, had a good time with players from other sports. It was nice that four of us got together. We enjoyed ourselves at village. Hung out with squash and TT girls. At the end of the day, we are all there for the same purpose – to do well for the country. It was good to get those medals and then chill and unwind with all of them.