Hyderabad: Although the focus was on big guns like Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponnappa-Sikki Reddy, it was the unchilled doubles player for men from Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan Panjala who stole the spotlight in the recently concluded Orleans Tour Masters (BWF). ) Super 100) in France.
21-year-old Krishna Prasad and 20-year-old Vishnu Vardhan first played as a pair in an international tournament before losing 21-19, 14-21 in the final to England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy , 19-21 in difficult three games.
This new Hyderabad duo announced their arrival to the big stage with an energetic and powerful performance that cheered the Indian badminton. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been in the news for their phenomenal increase in world badminton with some stunning performances over the past two years. This new pair of Prasad and Vishnu Vardhan gave rise to the hope of a second good combination after they immediately made an impact in their first international tournament.
Prasad and Vishnu Vardhan started out as qualifiers before succeeding in the first draw and reaching a BWF position of 216, with some outstanding performances. This show will definitely increase their confidence in a big way for the next international tournaments.
Prasad said the Orleans show gives them the conviction that they are ready for international challenges. “We cheered well and stayed focused throughout the tournament. The final was very close, ” he said. Vishnu Vardhan agrees with the feeling of his partner. “It was our first international tournament and I think we made a strong start. It was all about staying confident. ”
Prasad, the Kakinada-born commuter whose father also played badminton at the university, said he was initially a single player before coach Pullela Gopichand suggested he go doubles five years ago. ‘I initially had a partnership with Satwik. We played a lot of games, especially in junior games, before he took Chirag as his new partner. ‘
Prasad played alongside Dhruv Kapila in the junior world championships as a pair, but they lost in the quarterfinals. The duo also won the gold in the men’s doubles in the South Asian Championship.
In recent times, Prasad has got Vishnu as his new partner and they seem to be reaching a real deal. “We started with confidence. Vishnu is strongly behind while I play at the net. ”
According to Prasad, the new Denmark coach Mathias Boe was of great help. “His input was very helpful. The camp and our practice matches with Satwik and Chirag helped us improve our game. We now hold about 200 and we want to break into the top 50 by the end of the year. We are aiming for the 2024 Olympics, ” said Prasad, who also benefited from Korean doubles player Lee Wong Dae in PBL matches.
Vishnu Vardhan, who was a constant performer in juniors, was also a single player before Gopichand asked him to concentrate more in the doubles. “We want to be aggressive. It’s all about reducing errors in court. Coach Boe simply advised playing a simple game. We focus on speed, defense and power. The start is good and we want to keep moving forward. ‘
Source: Telangana Today