Badminton: How two talented Indian singles players are coming together for an unlikely Paris push in mixed doubles

Can two predominantly singles players jam together for a season-and-half and qualify in mixed doubles for the Paris Olympics? Bangalore coach Ajit Wijetilekk brought together the audacious talents of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath, and the duo recently picked their second International Challenge title, at Iran, besting the seasoned combine of Sikki Reddy and Sumeeth Reddy.

“I don’t know what the coach was thinking when he decided to pair us up. I hadn’t been playing doubles for 6-7 months, but when coach said I should try this, I trusted him and didn’t question him,” Sathish says. “There’s a plan.”

There’s only a remote chance of India sending a mixed pairing to Paris, but the youngsters in their early 20s have decided to have a good go. They came from World No 432 last season to No. 52 now, but will need an almighty push to make the 16-pairings draw at Paris. Sathish is now supported by Go Sports after he lost TOPS funding last September, but Aadya has no financial backing.

Sathish still sleeps on the floor at his Bangalore academy, because Ajit couldn’t afford beds for his students. It also keeps his charges rooted. Aadya has fought immense inner battles and has gone from wincing from shuttles coming at her face, to becoming one of the fastest and most combative players at the net in the country.

Their’s is an ambitious plan to pick as many points as possible in Azerbaijan, Uganda, Germany, Orleans, Spain, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, and the Asian Badminton Championships. “I told them these might be the longest 12 weeks of your life – 10 tournaments, hopefully at least 7 good results and reaching the Top 25 by April. It’s very tough, but maybe we can pull off a coup,” Ajit says. However, the likely spot they need to reach in the Race to Paris list is around No. 15, accounting for Continental Representation places and that is a further 26,000+ points away.

From Azerbaijan, they can avail of BAI physios with the Indian contingent, but their coach might only get to help from courtside if funds become available.

Ajit was the first trainee at Prakash Padukone academy, and second best behind Pullela Gopichand circa 2000. But crucially, he was one of those rare shuttlers who actively played singles and doubles internationally, and knows the rigour. “For Sathish, I know how much I can push. We’ll pull him back in singles in the next few days, though I have big plans for him later,” he says.

It is their unconventional style of play that increases curiosity. They don’t exactly rely on pace and power as are typical top XD pairings on the circuit but rather deploy a slow-burn, suddenly bubbling broth of a tightly controlled game, with constant cross attacks.

Aadya has quicksilver movements, a slash whip, and a rushing shot at the net. She was picked for high concentration of fast twitch fibres after tests, but had to be built into a fighter at the net, to sustain pressure and not cave in. Her forehand serve variations have been carefully curated, the reflexes are super-fast for neutralizing in duels and though the hand speed can get even better, she’s already pretty quick at the net with her fine sense of where to position herself.

Sathish is tall, has a very strong attack from the back, decent defense, variations of a singles shuttler, and just a very strategic idea of the mixed doubles game. He loves all-court action, but hounds from the back mostly.

He made the singles final at Iran too, and the solo game ensures his court coverage is stronger than your average mixed shuttler. Sikki and Sumeeth are a capable pairing though not regulars until recently. When they started pushing Sathish behind in the Iran final, he brought out his solid punch from the back, and collected 2-3 points quickly on the drives.

He has the singles proclivity to not lift the shuttle. “My future is definitely in singles, and I’m aiming for Top 30 by year-end. It depends on how Olympic XD qualification goes, but mostly it’s a ‘no’ for doubles after that,” he says.

Aadya, daughter of a software engineer, started at a summer camp at 7 in Mulund, Mumbai, and had a 7-year stint with Gangula Prasad in Bangalore. For six years, Ajit has been prepping her for net battles first at Trivandrum, then Bangalore.

Sathish started as a swimmer and it was only at age 12 that he followed elder brother Arun Kumar into focusing on badminton. His father runs a logistics business in Coimbatore.

“35 percent chance they’ll qualify. But we are gunning for it,” Ajit says. He’s requesting his school friends to chip in with the funds. “They joke about how we might produce the cheapest Olympians if Aadya-Satish make it.” It’s a miserably paltry amount that’s gone into bringing them with an outside chance of qualification. The last charge remains.

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