NEW DELHI: Surya Charisma Tamiri is a keen follower of women’s badminton, particularly two of the game’s splendid achievers — former world champion PV Sindhu and three-time All England winner Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei. “I idolise them. I like Tai Tzu’s strokes and I love Sindhu didi’s rally game,” says the 19-year-old.
For years, Surya has watched the matches of the two greats and tried to imbibe their qualities. Her observation skills, along with her efforts on court, bore fruit in the last week of December when she clinched the women’s singles title at the National Championships at her home town.
Though the Vijayawada shuttler has been around in the domestic circuit for some time, winning national ranking titles, this was her first national crown. It has suddenly catapulted her into the elite circle of Indian badminton. The accomplishment stands out even more as Surya is neither a product of a renowned academy nor does she have many sponsors.
A modest world No.249 currently, Surya started playing badminton when her father T Naveen Babu, a goldsmith and club level player, introduced his six-year-old daughter to the wooden courts. What started as a recreational activity during vacations soon became her passion. Her family and coaches noticed that she had the skills to take up the sport professionally and entered her in Under-11 tournaments.
She soon started playing U13 and then U15 tournaments too. She delivered results and the drawing room of the Tamiri house started filling up with medals, first from district level events, then state followed by national.
“The results were slow, but improved at the junior level (U19) where I won many ranking tournaments. If not gold, I was at least reaching the finals,” says Surya.
It has become standard practice in India that when a shuttler is identified, he/she moves to bigger academies. But Surya’s parents decided against it due to “family issues”, and she continued to train in Vijayawada. After being trained by Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh coach K Bhaskar in her initial years, former India international Kiran Mouli also joined the coaching set-up five years ago.
Under them, Surya has developed a strong attacking game which complements her net play, giving her an advantage over others. The skills helped the second year BBA student of Chitkara University to overcome six opponents, including top seed Unnati Hooda in the quarter-finals, to win the national title.
“I still need to improve my backcourt game, especially when it comes to stroke variations,” says Surya. “I’d also like to introduce more variation in my defence. I want to correct my mistakes.”
“I want to add to my plus points and convert my minus to plus.”
Two more things made the nationals special for Surya. Firstly, she won in Vijayawada. “It was a great feeling playing in my hometown where I practice regularly. Many of my friends and family who had never seen me play before not just saw me play but also win the most prestigious (domestic) title.”
Secondly, she was in the Andhra team that included idol Sindhu. Though interaction with the double Olympic medallist was limited, she soaked in every second she got with Sindhu. “I had first met her when she won the Olympic silver in 2016. I got the opportunity to spend a day with her then. This was the second time. She is very nice, kind and friendly,” says Surya.
The title win will give Surya the opportunity to train with the country’s best at the national camp.
“The national camp takes place in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Guwahati. The list of players for national camp is revised regularly. By virtue of winning the nationals, Surya will get the offer to join the camp,” Badminton Association of India secretary general, Sanjay Mishra, said.
If she decides to join the camp, it could be a huge impetus as Surya, who has only played International Challenges/Series — the lowest tier of international badminton – is likely to get to play higher grade events. She played in the Guwahati Masters in December, which was her first Super 100 tournament.
“My goal is to play more international tournaments and enter the top 100. I will next play in the Uganda International Challenge and Singapore International Challenge in February.”