Juniors
PBL

India’s No 2 Badminton Pride: Sai Uttejitha

By: Srishty Sharon
Date: 13 Aug, 2018
Image Courtesy: PBL

Every player goes through a myriad of struggles in their career. They win, they lose, they learn from others. Sai Uttejitha has also gone through all these phases and still learning. The Indian No 2 badminton player, Sai Uttejitha hails from Vizag. The 20-year-old shuttler is preparing to hustle at the upcoming Asian Games. She has represented the nation in many international tournaments.


The Onset


Sai Uttejitha was merely in sixth grade, studying at Sri Prakash School when she started with her badminton training. That time, her father was also a national level badminton player. So, she got introduced to the game at an adolescent age. She received her training in Vizag and Khannam. Sai Uttejitha played at the District Level Tournament as a professional player and won at Kurnool. Her victory was the turning point. She decided to establish her career as a badminton player and so she moved to Hyderabad to join Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.


Training and Guidance


Sai Uttejitha started with her badminton training where she practices the sport with trainers as well as senior players of the Academy. She continuously made efforts to get better at badminton. She used to partake in various events and in her training for four years; she noticed a lot of improvement in her game. She is laborious and put immense efforts to become better. Her day starts before the sunrise, at 4 AM and she gets training till 6 PM. She has been consistently participating in numerous tournaments. She was also picked up for the Asian Games from the tournament selection, held at Hyderabad and Bengaluru by the Badminton Association of India.


The Striving


It is never easy to reach to the top without encountering any hurdles. Sai Uttejitha has tasted defeat multiple times in her badminton career. There was also a phase where she lost almost every battle of badminton. She went through a lot of criticism. People tell her, if she couldn’t defeat any player at the current level, she might never be able to beat the senior and expert players. However, the young shuttler never takes the criticism in a wicked way. Instead of giving up, she emerged more strongly like a champion. Sai Uttejitha has not just improved her game and fitness in badminton for the International Challenges, but she is also pursuing her studies at a private school in Hyderabad. She has balanced her Studies and career in badminton in a brilliant way. If it wasn’t badminton, she would be preparing for IIT.


The Grand Slam


The Indian shuttler has tasted the sweetness of success after all her struggles. She is World No 87 as of the current BWF International rank. She also clinched the 2nd position in India. She has won 21 laurels in both the junior and senior singles category of her career by now, out of which she got 15 bronze, 3 silver and 3 gold medals. She also became the first person from the state to get into the Asian Games for the sport of badminton. Sai Uttejitha also likes to play tennis occasionally.


Future plans


The young Indian shuttler is preparing for the forthcoming Asian Games. She has been focusing on her fitness and well-being to be able to battle rigorously. Sai Uttejitha was satisfied with her performance at the selection tournament and her favourite match was the latest one; Bengaluru-Hyderabad Open.


City Framework


Sai Uttejitha gets her training at the Swarna Bharati in Vizag. She was trained under the coaches Chandrashekhar and Siva. The shuttler thinks that the infrastructure of Vizag is capable enough to provide good training to the shuttlers. The training techniques and groundwork for the sport of badminton are continuously improving. She has highlighted the dedication and arduous efforts of her coaches.


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