‘Feels wretched to lose’: Why Priyanshu Rajawat, who is working with Gopichand, can make it to Paris Olympics

A scrawny kid from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, Priyanshu followed his older brother Kunal (who’s since stopped playing) into badminton. He was picked for Pullela Gopichand’s Gwalior academy at age 8 because of his lightning fast feet and hands. He was thin, but had unbelievable leg speed and hand speed from the net and back – like Srikanth.

Contemporary badminton has two gears it’s often said – the Loh Kean Yew speed and the Anthony Ginting pace. Then there is the tempered Priyanshu Rajawat speed which has been schooled to not play rashly. For in the early years, Rajawat rushed and struggled to contain momentum when pushing the speed throttle in younger years, unable to handle the head rush. Yet, it’s this speed that helps him reach any corner of the court, and aids his naturally skilled placement of the stroke.

The errors did pile up against Ginting as the wild hitting couldn’t be tamed in the second and the third.

What raises expectations is that coach Gopichand has himself focussed on Rajawat extensively, and his involvement in his development is absolute. Having him courtside must’ve been considerable help in the Ginting match. It’s Gopichand who also convinced him he needed to learn meditation to get a grip on his hyper excessive speed and resultant impatience.

“I tried football and didn’t enjoy it. But with a racquet in hand, I just loved hitting the shuttle. Leaving home at 8 was tough, but you get used to it,” he had said earlier, having shifted to Hyderabad a decade ago. His speed, strokes perfection, accuracy, power and body fitness were honed in Hyderabad. Having lost two years to Covid though, the transition to seniors, got delayed, but it’s also when he left his laidback nature behind realising the rigours of international badminton.

There is a riff of Srikanth in him, but he’s greatly influenced by Sameer Verma, whose reflex defense echoed in that shot against Ginting. He had the better of the Indonesian in a bunch of net exchanges, had the pickups and the expansive kill smash needed to close out games. It’s his quick turns from the back-court that are eye-catching.

“Haarnaa gandaa lagtaa hai. (It feels wretched to lose). I have to be prepared for it to be very tough,” he had once said, and despite nicking a set off Ginting he will rue not going the distance. There have been wins against Tsunayema and Nishimoto though.

Comparisons with Lakshya Sen are inevitable, though Sen already boasts of a World Championship bronze and an All England final from his breakthrough season last year. Rajawat needs not only to get the marquee scalps but also go deep into draws and contend for titles like Kodai Naraoka and Kunlavut Vitidsarn. All this while staying away from injuries.

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With the Olympic qualification race on, Rajawat’s true ambition ought to be pointing at Paris, though his ranking is only in the 30s right now. If the Ginting game is any evidence, there are the makings of a blockbuster, with Istora being a mere trailer to what is to come.