Anmol Kharb, India’s Asian Team Championship golden girl wins first individual international badminton title

Anmol Kharb, India’s breakout badminton prodigy integral to the Asian Team gold medal at the start of 2024, has had an eventful past eight months. Widely lauded for winning decisive tie-clinchers in February, the 17-year-old collapsed in a tearful heap on the court with a viciously swollen ankle at the Uber Cup in May. However, her senior career is properly back on track come September, as she won her first-ever individual title, the Belgian International Challenge at Leuven on Saturday.

“It’s special, this title will remain very close to my heart. But there’s no time or need to celebrate, I play in Poland next week, and have to win so much more,” the Faridabad teenager said after sealing the final, 24-22, 12-21, 21-10, against World No 80 Dane Amalie Schulz.

Anmol displayed her trademark bouncing back and finishing qualities, as she took control of closing-out situations at 19-18, at least three times in the tournament. The youngster also played seven matches in three days, starting out as a qualifier, ranked World No 220.

It was a whirlwind five days of travel and competition, as Anmol got her visa on September 10 and took a flight out to Belgium at 1.20 a.m on September 11, heading straight to the venue to play the first of those seven matches on arrival.

“It was crazy because the visa came only on 10th, then the flight from the stopover was delayed by three hours. So I reached the venue straight at 11.30 am Belgian time, and played the first match at 12.35 pm. All this has to be done to get ranking up and makes you stronger mentally,” the Indian shuttler said, not wanting to complain. The title had eased away all the accumulated exhaustion of the packed schedule.

The semifinal against the Bulgarian World No 68 Kaloyana Nalbantova tested Anmol’s fortitude before she won 21-13, 24-26, 21-19. She had been dragged into a decider after frittering two match points, and the Olympian closed in from 16-19 with sustained pressure. “Last game got tough. I used to think Asian players are tougher because of speed and Europeans will be easy. But European women are playing with a lot of wrist power and are stronger in long rallies,” she felt.4

Anmol Kharb in action. (FILE photo)

In the final against Schulz, Anmol was 11-14 down in the opener. “It was a good final, where I fought back in the first game, had a lot of negatives, errors at the start of the second, but reversed momentum playing well in the third. I just told myself at the start of the third that it’s a new game, and I have to regain focus,” Anmol added.

Injury setback

The return from the Uber Cup had been tearful after she crashed on the court, and the ankle ballooned and grew bluish-red. “It was difficult because doctors said I couldn’t play for 1-2 months. Even after I returned, the fear of injury persisted about movement on court and even taking a lunge step,” she said.

The youngster would slowly recover, and was kept motivated by coaches. At her lowest, Uber Cup coach Parupalli Kashyap would tell her that she remained a class-player, and invite her to train at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. “We knew we had to train harder to make the next level, so when he said I could try and see if I liked it, my mother and I shifted to Hyderabad. It was tough to adjust because I’d never lived at a hostel. But now I’m settled at the academy and my mother makes food, so there’s no problem. My father, who coached me first at 10-11, is accompanying me as coach,” Anmol said.

She was told by coach Gopichand that training would be hard, and take a bit of time to start showing results. “There’s been a huge change in my game. Many mistakes needed correcting and technique had to be strengthened. But I had to be patient and understand that results won’t come immediately. It’s still tough, the senior circuit – speed, power and different games – but slowly I’ll start winning more,” she insisted.

The biggest input coaches would drill into her was to start thinking like a champion. “They said the mindset has to be to win every match, no matter what, finding solutions and not cribbing. Also, to not be happy with smaller titles, though I can’t help feeling happy today because it’s my first individual title,” Anmol said, feeling giddy gleeful.

Her on-court fitness work has considerably increased. “Earlier, I used to run a lot. Now of the three physicals, two are outside, off court, but the toughest is on-court, mostly shadows and agility,” she said.

The Poland International Challenge will be another wringer of five matches in three days at Lublin, though she’s already in the main draw, starting Friday. She runs into Schulz again in Round 1, and will learn plenty about fighting off the wrath of the vanquished in head-to-heads, and playing back-to-back tournaments.

“Jeetna hi hai (Must win) is the mentality I have to adopt, though opponents don’t make it easy,” she chuckles.

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