Preparing for third Olympics at 34, Ashwini Ponnappa in no mood to slow down

Badminton veteran Ashwini Ponnappa gears up for her third Olympics with a young partner, aiming for a medal.

Ashwini Ponnappa has been around for a long while now but the 34-year-old has no plans of slowing down. Preparing for her third Olympics in a sport as demanding as badminton can be gruelling. To do so in doubles, with a partner almost 15 years younger, is unheard of. Ashwini isn’t bothered.

“There is no Olympic medal yet, it’s a dream to be there and I am grateful that I have an opportunity to give it a shot at this point of my career. (But) there are quite a few (empty) slots that can be filled (in the medal cabinet),” she said in an interaction with The Hindu on Friday, making it clear that retirement was not on her mind any time soon.

Ashwini missed the Tokyo Olympics but with Tanisha Crasto, is currently the highest-ranked Indian women’s doubles pair in the world and on top of the race to the World Tour Finals.

Having burst into the limelight after winning a historic gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in front of home crowds (with Jwala Gutta) for her maiden senior international title, it’s been an eventful career for Ashwini.

“I think having the CWG in India was the biggest game-changer because there was media and public attention on all sports, not just one or two. And winning in front of the home crowd put doubles in the spotlight because till then, it used to only be about singles. People started viewing doubles as a specialised event after that,” she acknowledged.

“It’s been quite a journey, having started alongside Jwala who was already an established player then and well-known on the national and international scene as a specialised doubles player. I think I got lucky because partnering with her meant that I got to play in the big league at a very young age. I have had different partners along the way and now am with someone who is 14 years younger – I never would have thought back then that something like this would happen. But it’s been an exciting journey since we got together,” she added.

The longevity has not been without challenges but a bout of dengue in 2016 triggered a complete turnaround in her training ethos and methods.