In a distant Navi Mumbai suburb of Ulwe, a group of aspiring shuttlers in the age group of 11 to 19 years are undergoing rigorous training under two-time Olympian Dipankar Bhattacharjee.

It takes quite a task for the young shuttlers accompanied by their encouraging and enthusiastic parents to reach there from different parts of Navi Mumbai. The commute only gets worse during monsoon.

The youngsters, though, do not mind the hardships of reaching Dipankar's Badminton Academy located on the second floor of the Ramsheth Thakur International Sports Complex, Ulwe. Their aim is to do well in badminton and achieve glory for the country, come the Summer Games of 2024 in Paris. To achieve that, they will do everything that is there.

Bhattacharjee has already set his sights on seeing his trainees on the podium in singles events of Paris 2024. Recently, he launched his 'Mission Olympic Gold — 2024' and has identified his trainees who he believes can achieve more than what he attained in his two Olympic participations – Barcelona 1992 (third-round exit) and Atlanta 1996 (second-round exit after first round bye).

"I was a singles player and will prepare my trainees in singles. I will prepare them to beat the best," said the three-time national champion from Guwahati while chalking out his plans with DNA. "Five years from now, for Paris 2024, my trainees will be in the 17-19 age group, which is the right time to peak. The aim is to win a medal at the 2024 Olympics.

"There are Chinese and Japanese players who have won Olympic medals at 17-18 years. And, more importantly, we should have very high goals and work towards them," added the 47-year-old Bhattacharjee, who was a contemporary of current chief national coach and 2001 All England champion Pullela Gopichand.

A few may chuckle at Bhattacharjee's lofty goals. But, he is not bothered about them. He is determined in his mission, though he is aware of facing many hurdles along the way.

"We will do everything to achieve that goal. I believe in aiming for the stars. For, if you fall short, you'll land on the moon," he said.

Working on mind

Bhattacharjee had gone through various hardships during his playing days, and does not want his wards to face the same. For his mission, Bhattacharjee has hired professional experts required for a sportsperson's progress."If we start now, we can make the right progress towards 2024 Games. It is not just badminton skills that I will be focussing on. Mental strength, sports physiology, physiotherapy, nutrition, etc. are the other aspects needed to develop the shuttlers. With these kind of support, our trainees will have a great chance to excel in international stage," he said.

"In my days, I was physically and mentally prepared but one area I lacked was that I did not believe in myself. Learning from my own experience, sports psychology is one area we are focussing on to make the children believe they can beat the best.

"In my playing days, I had the capability but not the self-belief. When it came to playing the top 10 in the world, I used to have mental block even before getting onto the court," he added.

Malaysian touch

Dipankar has also hired a Malaysian coach full time, Mohammed Hairi bin Matzuber, to impart training to his trainees.

Matzuber might not be well known in Indian circles. He is a batch-mate of the Malaysian legend and recently-retired Lee Chong Wei. The two trained under the same coach in Malaysia before injuries cut short Matzuber's growth as a player. The 37-year-old Matzuber was zeroed in on by Bhattacharjee after he found the Malaysian coaching methods identical to what he imparts at his academy. "Matzuber's approach to coaching is similar to mine," Bhattacharjee said.

A chief manager (administrative & welfare, western region) of Indian Oil Corporation, Bhattacharjee is at his academy before and after work and, sometimes, on holidays too. His wife, Dahlia, looks after the administrative side of his academy while he has a dedicated bunch of junior coaches to assist him. For starters, Bhattacharjee is running his Mission 2024 with the fees collected from his trainees.

Having started his academy on August 5, 2015, at least five of them from the first batch are still continuing. This includes national-ranking players Raksha, Bhattacharjee's son Anirban, Siddharth among others, while he rates Anurag as the best player in his academy. Besides, he has earlier this year opened his academy in Jalandhar, Punjab.

One of the first trainees of the renowned Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru in the 1990s, Bhattacharjee is now imparting to his wards what he has learnt from the legendary shuttler.

"I basically follow what I learnt from Prakash sir, which is the classical style of badminton – accuracy, stroke and deception. But to survive in today's competitive world of badminton and to be in tune with the trend, I also mix modern speed and power with the classical style to make one a complete badminton player," said Bhattacharjee.

'Know road ahead won't be easy'

It may be a common notion that shuttlers should go through the famous Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad to represent the country. It is no secret that some of the world's leading shuttlers from India are trained by Gopichand at his facility in Hyderabad.

But Bhattacharjee believes he can also churn out champions from his small centre in Navi Mumbai. "I have seen others achieve it and what are the things required. I know the road ahead in my Mission 2024 is not going to be easy. But I will provide the platform for aspiring shuttlers to develop their skills to the highest level, enable them to participate in various tournament domestically and gradually by their ranking and performances, will get to participate in international tournaments in the build up to the 2024 Olympics," Bhattacharjee said.

One thing is for certain: Bhattacharjee will not be lacking in his efforts to coach. And, as he says, his wards are "very serious and sincere. They are not playing for fun. They want to play for the country".

And, when the two mix well, it can only be good news for Indian badminton.