She turned 18 last month (February 12), and this teen queen already has the coveted National Women’s (Singles) Badminton Championship tag under the belt. Anupama Upadhyaya, the svelte and suave girl next door, the lone shuttler representing Haryana, has skyrocketed to the centrestage of national badminton scene by clinching gold at the 84th Senior National Badminton Championship.
While we haven’t gone beyond Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in women’s badminton, Anupama is on the horizon of following the same path. Panchkula grabbed national headlines as Anupama Upadhyaya joined the big badminton league. She became the first-ever youngster from the district to make it to the final of the Senior National Badminton Championship held in Pune. She is a former world junior top-ranking shuttler from the state.
Anupama became the national champion and romped home with a gold medal she clinched at the 84th Senior National Badminton Championship by defeating her formidable rival and Gujarat National Games champion Aakarshi Kashyap from Chhattisgarh. Aakarshi was a part of the national women’s contingent that won the gold medal in the 2019 South Asian Games. Anupama defeated her in a cliff-hanger match by 20-22, 21-18, 24-22 in 18 minutes, securing the top slot. Earlier, she overcame a tough challenge from 5th seeded Shriyanshi Valishetty of Gopichand Academy by scoring 21-10, 16-21, 21-19 coming out victorious in the quarterfinals at the national chamionship.
Talking to CityWoofer, Almora-born Anupama says, “A fair share of the credit for this spectacular victory goes to my parents and my coach, Rohit sir, whose tireless efforts and hard work spanning over two and half years has helped me achieve this position. I learnt the finer nuances of the game under his astute supervision at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Panchkula. The Panchkula memories will always remain precious deep down in my heart”.
On Anupama’s resounding victory, her coach Rohit Mandhan says, “I am delighted to know about Anupama’s outstanding achievement in the annals of history of badminton. She is a conscientious player who has proved her mettle by winning a gold through sheer hard work and dedication. She is sure to make a mark at the international level.”
Anupama is currently undergoing a rigorous training at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Bangalore, to improve her national and international rankings, which at present stands at 60th (international) and 4th (national) position. She is going whole hog to perform better when it comes to the international level competitions.
She has trained with DK Sen, Indain shuttler Lakshshya Sen’s father, then moved to Bangalore and then the Padukone Academy. She moved to Panchkula to represent Haryana at the national level where her coach Rohit Mandhan gives training at theTau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector3, Panchkula and also because she can give her open school boards from here.
Earlier achievements
Last year, Anupama won her first-ever senior ranking tournament at Visakhapatnam.
After winning the 2022 Polish Open and later the Poland Challenge (Arlamow), she breezed into the semi-finals of the Syed Modi India International Super 300 series. Anupama has come a long way. She won the Infosys Foundation International Challenge Tournament, besides playing in the quarterfinals of the Orleans Open, a super 100 series tournament held in Orleans (France).
Upcoming tournaments
The golden girl Anupama, who hails from Almora (Uttarakhand), is all poised to play in the Thailand Challenge (March 7 to 12), and the Vietnam Challenge (March 21 to 27). She will also play in the Spain Masters 300 Super Series (March 28 to April 2), followed by the Orleans Masters 300 Super Series from April 4 to 9.
