Pune :
If there is a word that can describe Ashwini Ponnappa’s present state of mind, it would be tranquil. At the moment, the doubles shuttler is sorted in her head and clear in her heart. The recent success at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) has only contributed positively to the cause.
The Bangalore player, who impressed by playing four matches in a day and winning medals at Gold Coast, said this edition of the CWG was extra special, simply because of the way the team played and won together.
“This one was special, extremely special. We won our first team gold and the atmosphere in the team was all very positive. Everybody was giving their best, trying to do well for the country. It felt good to be a part of the team. My first CWG in 2010 was special for obvious reasons and on top of it, we had won doubles gold,” Ashwini told TOI.
However, the World Championships bronze medallist felt there was a lot more she could do.
“Although it was India’s best ever show in the CWG, personally, I could have done better. I am one of the senior-most players in the team now and I feel I could have contributed more than what I did by pushing more in my matches and sharing a lot more insights with the juniors. Personally, I feel that me and my partners could have done better,” Ashwini, who won the women’s doubles bronze with N Sikki Reddy, said.
Her efforts in Gold Coast were so remarkable that even coach Gopichand praised Ashwini in one of the felicitation functions after the Games. Gopi called Ashwini the real champion of the team.
“I am grateful to Gopi sir for saying all the good things. He was generous with his comments, but I would say the whole team did well and right feedback from Gopi sir helped all of us,” she said.
Ashwini, who had a long partnership with Jwala Gutta, now looks settled with Sikki and Satwik Rankireddy in women’s and mixed doubles respectively.
“I would say it is going good for me. I am happy with the way we played and hope to do better with them. It’s good to have left the partnership decision to the coach (Tan Kim Her). As long as he sees us having the potential to do well as partners, we’ll definitely be playing together (with N Sikki Reddy and Satwik Rankireddy).”
She admits that things were not easy after her split with Jwala, two years ago, but with time, things are falling in place for her.
“Initially it was tough as I was recovering from dengue so I was pretty low. I wasn’t feeling strong. A lot has happened during the two years. I have changed partners, got married, and become physically and mentally much stronger,” said Ashwini, who got married to businessman and model Karan Medappa last year.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Sports News > Badminton News / by Tushar Dutt / TNN / April 20th, 2018
