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Ashwini Ponappa to Join Sikki Reddy in Training at Hyderabad, Team India Steps Up Uber Cup Preparations

By: Editor
Date: 11 Sep, 2020
Image Courtesy: GoBadminton
Ramping up preparations for the upcoming Uber Cup, India’s ace doubles duo of Sikki Reddy & Ashwini Ponappa will start training together at the SAI Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

Thus far Ashwini has been training in Bangalore and Sikki has been in Hyderabad, and while the Badminton Association of India had allowed players to train on their own leading up to the Uber Cup, Ashwini & Sikki have decided that it would be best to train together and build the much needed rhythm going into the big tournament said Sikki.

“Ashwini will join me on last 10 days, so we’ll be able to rediscover the combination rhythm,” said Sikki Reddy.
She herself has been training full-tilt ever since the national camp re-started following the corona virus break, and other than a few days of anxiety and isolation following a false-positive corona virus test, Sikki has been at full throttle all along.

“Very happy to be back and the training is awesome. Getting there, three more weeks I have to remain focused,” explained the 2016 CWG Gold Medallist.

Thus far, Sikki has been the only doubles player at the national centre and Ashwini joining in will give her training the added lift, and ensure that they are both adequately prepped following a lengthy period of layoff as well as an equally lengthy period of not having played or trained together.

Sikki, however, has always been to look at the positive side of things. She says, that she’s got a lot of personal attention during this time of training alone, and that her coaches have been working hard to help her further raise her game.
I was the only doubles player around in the camp, so all corrections and attention were very good. Never got so much attention like this. Coaches have been working on me very well,” said Sikki.

And a proof of it is her social media handles, abuzz with training drills & videos that her fans have been absolutely loving them.

Right now, her focus is on building up consistency, ensuring she avoids the simple mistakes. And with Ashwini joining in shortly, the training is likely to go up a notch further.

Overall, the Indian women’s badminton team seems to be shaping up nicely to mount a title bid at the biennial event. The squad selection done, the camp nitty gritty now behind them it looks like the team is settling into a training regime and bring the focus back on to the court at the right time.

Trimmed down from the 13-member probable list, the squad will be headlined by World Champion PV Sindhu, with Saina Nehwal, Malvika Bansod and Akarshi Kashyap the other singles players.

While PV Sindhu & Saina Nehwal will definitely line-up to take the first & second singles ties, the third one will be a toss-up between the youngsters – Malvika Bansond & Akarshi Kashyap. 

In doubles, in addition to Sikki & Ashwini, the team also comprises of Meghana Jakkampudi/Poorvisha Ram and the upcoming Sanjana Santosh/Pooja

The six-month layoff due to the corona virus pandemic means that – one, the players will be a little rusty at least in the initial stages and two, recent records & form can be tossed out of the window and it will be down to the preparation and the performance on the day to determine the winners. And looking at the preparation thus far, team India is definitely pulling in all the hard yards needed!

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