Madhya Pradesh stood little chance when they came up against the mighty Petroleum Sports Promotion Board in the final of the inter-state mixed-team championship in Nagpur on Saturday. The PSPB side, comprising India’s badminton stars such as B Sai Praneeth, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, was a lot stronger on paper compared with MP.
And thus, it was not surprising when Japan Superseries semi-finalists Chopra and Reddy, playing mixed doubles, and Singapore Superseries champion Sai Praneeth gave PSPB a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five encounter.
Left with the task of saving MP some blushes was the 19-year-old Shreyanshi Pardeshi, the second-ranked Indian senior and 143rd in the world. She was taking on Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, ranked 60 spots above her in the world rankings.
Five matches in two days
It did not help Pardeshi’s cause that she had already played four matches for MP in the 36 hours prior to the clash – women’s singles and doubles. Gadde was a lot fresher, having played only two singles matches leading up o the final.
Unsurprisingly then, Gadde raced to a 21-11 win in the first game, with Pardeshi looking completely drained out. She had won a couple of good points, showing what she could have done on fresher legs, but too many unforced errors cost her.
Incredibly then, in the second game, Pardeshi managed to dig into her reserves and make Gadde fight for her points. She was trailing 8-11 at the interval, but went on a run of five straight points to take a 13-11 lead. She had another run of four straight points to make it 17-12 in her favour, before going on to take the game 21-19.
Pardeshi knew she had a chance to pull this off and keep MP in the tie. She gave it her all in the third game and, at 13-13, she was still in with a great chance. However, her legs finally gave in and Gadde won five straight points after that to put the match out of Pardeshi’s reach. Gadde won the decider 21-18 to seal the title for PSPB.
Height no bar
Despite MP’s loss, Pardeshi was clearly the highlight of the mixed-team championships. She was happy with how she played over the two days and five matches, and said she could have won the match against Gadde had she judged the drift better. “I could not control the shuttle as well as I would have wanted because of the drift, but it’s fine – I’m playing well,” she said.
While Pardeshi looked sorted in her defence, she lost a lot of points when she went on the attack and that’s one area she was looking to work on. At just over five feet tall, Pardeshi does not have height on her side, so she wants to make up for it with more strength and speed.
Asked how tough it was to play so many matches in two days, she said she was used to it now after playing on the national circuit for so long. “Four to five matches in a day is normal,” she said. “But I am relieved that now in the senior Nationals I’ll have to play only one match in a day.”
The P Gopichand Academy trainee has been handed a direct entry into the pre-quarterfinals of the Nationals, along with the likes of PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, on the basis of her India ranking. This also means she now has a break for couple of days until she has to play again. Pardeshi is looking forward to the Nationals. “I want to play with Saina and Sindhu,” she said, laughing. “Let’s see who I come up against.”
The Indore girl had reached the final of the Tata Open in Mumbai last year, before losing to Malaysia’s Soniia Cheah. She has since failed to go past the round of 16 in international tournaments but was happy with gaining some experience. In the Vietnam Open in September, she lost to world No 40 Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the pre-quarterfinals. “I lost the third game 21-23 so it was very close,” she said.
Asked what her targets are for the coming months, Pardeshi said she wants to take it step-by-step. “I want to win challenger tournaments, then Grands Prix, then Grands Prix Golds. I’m happy with the way I am playing. I just need to work on a few things like I said.”