-Boria Majumdar
Priyanshu Rajawat is a great story. Today a BWF 300 Champion, he started out as a young kid in Dhar, a village in MP. While there wasn’t any tradition in the family, the fact that Sameer and Sourabh Verma were both from the same village, Priyanshu had people to look up to while growing up. And at a very young age he joined the Gopichand academy in Gwalior. However, the academy couldn’t continue for want of funds and Priyanshu was the only kid Gopi singled out to take with him to Hyderabad.
“He had potential and I could see it from fairly early. It was important I got him with me to Hyderabad to the academy. He was barely 10-11 years old then. Anil who was with him in Orleans was there in Gwalior and had spotted him early. Since then, he has been with us in Hyderabad and it is a matter of pride that he has now been able to win a BWF 300 title”, said Gopi.
So how does he see this win, I asked and Gopi, calm as always, put it in perspective. “See it is a very good win. I don’t want to overplay it or underplay it. What this proves is that he belongs to the top. He has the game to be a top 10 player and this is evidence. A number of young Chinese players are starting to look good and Priyashu will have good competition in the days ahead. But he certainly has the game to belong there”, he concluded.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨 @PGopichand73 reacts to @PriyanshuPlay ‘s victory in the #OrleansMaster2023 #OrleansMasters #PriyanshuRajawat @BoriaMajumdar @bwfmedia @BAI_Media pic.twitter.com/ZQBYyIi386
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) April 9, 2023
Anyone who has watched the final will know Gopi is right. Priyanshu has an all rounded game and is now starting to play with the kind of consistency one has been wanting to see in him for a while. Even when he lost the second game, he wasn’t flustered.
“He was rushing a bit towards the end of the second game. He was trying to finish the points in the second or third stroke. All he needed to do was stay patient and not try and hurry up with points. That’s what I told him and asked him to start a little slow in the decider”, said Anil who has been with him since his Gwalior days and was there for him in his corner in Orleans.
“I am grateful to all the people back home who supported me all through. A win like this gives me the confidence to keep working hard and getting better. I want to specially thank Gopi Sir, Anil Sir and Siyadath Bhaiyya for all their help over the years”, said Priyanshu soon after winning the title.
After a relatively poor start to the year, Indians have now won two tour titles with one runner up effort in the last one month. While Satwik and Chirag won the Swiss Open, Sindhu finished second in Madrid and now this. Ahead of the start of the Olympic qualification period and the Sudirman Cup, it does give hope about Indian badminton, the country’s second most popular sport at the moment after cricket.
And for Priyanshu it is a very good start. From Gwalior to Hyderabad to the podium in Orleans has been a special journey. But the good part is, the journey has just begun.