"If you truly love doing something, you just cannot tire of it…so is my love for badminton" says B Sumeeth Reddy, the badminton champ from Andhra Pradesh who has debuted in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the men’s doubles with his partner Mannu Attri.
Though the pair lost their opening match to Indonesia’s H Setiawan and M Ashan in the Group D preliminaries on Thursday, the Indian duo are now gearing up for their next match against Chinese players B Chai and W Hong on Friday.
Speaking to The News Minute just before he left for Rio, Sumeeth could not hide his excitement about having made it to the Olympics, as he considers it the best thing that has happened to him. 24-year old Sumeeth who hails from Gungal started playing badminton because his father -an athlete- wanted him to take up the sport.
"My father is my support system. He is the one who has sacrificed a lot for me. If my training starts at 5 am, he gets up an hour earlier to prepare everything for my practice session. I am really thankful for all the untold sacrifices my parents have made for me just to ensure that I get to do what I love,” he shared.
Life was not easy for Sumeeth after he sustained a back injury while playing singles in September 2011. He thought it boded the end of his sporting career, but looking back, he is glad that he gave it his all to reach where he is now, and that is at Rio.
Sumeeth and Mannu are the first Indian men’s doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics. They are currently ranked 21 in the world and this is their first Olympics where they hope to give it their best shot for India.
Winning the Lagos Open in June 2015 helped them break into the top 20 for the first time. They were also runners-up in the Guatemala International and went on to win the Belgium International Challenge Championship too.
Sumeeth Reddy
"A medal is obviously something to aim for, but right now, all we aim is to give it all we have and try and incorporate in our play all that we have learned over the years. Winning the Canada Open just before Olympics is a big boost for both of us and we will concentrate on our strengths for the time being," he felt.
Though he is wary of the Koreans and the Chinese, Sumeeth believes that Mannu and he have it in them to put up a worthy fight at Rio. Here’s wishing them luck for the upcoming matches.