All England: Aakarshi Kashyap lacks strength, firepower in tame, straight-set opening match loss

Aakarshi Kashyap thought she was in the game till 13-14 in her first round against Pai Yu Po. Then on the most prestigious stage of the All England, came the most predictable ending – a 21-16, 21-11 loss in 37 minutes. The World No 43, technically India’s No 2 in women’s singles, knew how the 37 minutes looked – forgettable. “People see us only on court. They don’t know how tough it is before and after the match,” she says about the struggle to raise her game to match the biggest competitive stages and most scorching spotlights.

The new grey courts of the All England get a fine mauve hue, looking quite fetching. The winning performances and splash of colour of international stars gleams in stark relief. PV Sindhu hurried through a first set win before Yvonne Li conceded at 21-10. HS Prannoy got followers worried about yet another early exit, going down 21-14, 13-21, 13-21 to Su Li Yang. Though progress on his gut issues and how he regains court-speed will be minutely followed as he travels to the Olympics in coming months. But like Aakarshi reminds, her briefest of All England outings will simply get forgotten beyond the court and her career will remain unseen.

It’s been the story of India’s women’s singles players since PV Sindhu, who reached dizzy heights of success to become India’s greatest shuttler, despite not courting All England glory. It’s also been the country’s collective failing that an earnest, hard-working shuttler like Aakarshi, just couldn’t break through like her predecessors.

Setbacks are just launchpads for comebacks. Your time will come Aakarshi, keep it up!

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— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) March 12, 2024

“Maybe because I don’t win much on the international circuit, there’s this feeling that I’m lacking in strength. But I can hit from my rear court to the opposite corner,” she says, disappointed with her loss, but not from want of effort. Her strength has been found lacking, and the speed diminishes as the match progresses, with most of her returns limping into the net when pushed to the back by the Taiwanese. “Most of us start strength training in our 20s,” she says, of a critical factor that is seeing an entire generation fall through the cracks.

But there’s the whole unseen support system that is lacking. “Our biggest challenge has been not getting the facilities that Sindhu di or Saina di got. We don’t have our own physios, sparring partners and coaches even. DK Sen sat for my match, and he’s a very good coach. But he doesn’t train me regularly. So the connect is not there suddenly in big matches. Sometimes there’s no coach,” she explains. “Maybe we had the capacity to beat top names, but the exposure, self belief and confidence has just never been there,” she adds.

Aakarshi had her moments on the circuit – she often played defiantly, pushing herself in long retrieving rallies without a visible kill weapon.

Aakarshi’s ranking allowed her to get into the main draw at All England, but she’s unsure of what she’ll play next. “If I’m picked for the Asian Championship then I’ll go. Otherwise I don’t know,” she says, sounding a little lost.

At 25, she’s not likely to find many backers. Aakarshi had her moments on the circuit – she often played defiantly, pushing herself in long retrieving rallies without a visible kill weapon. “I’m good at strength. But not very good at how to apply the strength in a match. I do well in practice, but in a match I forget a few things. Especially in finishing a game,” she says.

“From 13 to the end of the first set I made some errors,” she says. The wide-opening gap after the 13-14 juncture, was an example of how tough it gets to finish.

It didn’t start too swell either, even though it was her second All England post 2022. “Actually the stadium has great height. The arena’s quite big. I wasn’t able to judge the shuttle and couldn’t connect. It kept going to mid-court,” she explains.

There was also decent drift, and faster shuttles at the All England unlike usually in European courts. “Compared to other colder places, this one surprisingly had fast shuttles. And I didn’t get much time to practice. Just 20 minutes after all the top players finished,” she says. “That made a difference,” she said of the typical struggles of a fringe player, from a country that’s fielding title contenders or those that’ll go deep in most categories – big, tall names who don’t struggle with self-belief. “That self confidence matters in the whole match. But especially in the last moments, few crucial points.”

Aakarshi has been training in Bhilai since 2020. “The halls we play in, in Chhattisgarh are not very big. We don’t have a variety of players to spar with. It’s limited,” she says. Outside of India’s top 2 academies in Hyderabad and Bangalore, and now the National centre, life can be pretty tough, before shuttlers can break out on the international circuit. Her game has stagnated, though she fights on gamely.

There were two tearful exits from the National Championships after her win in 2022, while India moved on to build hopes around Anupama Upadhyaya and Anmol Kharb. “I took unnecessary pressure at Nationals. And playing back to back domestic events meant many suffered in reserving their best,” she says. The grind is inescapable to earn ranking points, and earn the right to be on the international circuit. Aakarshi always worked hard, but just couldn’t crack the elite ranking bracket, missing milestones. She bowed out of the All England without a flutter. Beyond the lit grey courts was a walk back to obscurity.

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