Treesa-Gayatri can beat Chinese, they have to believe in themselves, says doubles coach Sumeeth Reddy | Badminton News

India’s 2016 Rio Olympics men’s doubles badminton player, Sumeeth Reddy, had always been super serious on court. His father Chandra Bhasker Reddy, a local athletics coach, was often taunted on Hyderabad’s maidaans for refusing to help his wards to dope. But he was determined to make his son a clean-cut Olympian, even if his salary stagnated at Rs 25,000.Mindful always that more than half his father’s modest pay got funnelled into his badminton, Sumeeth was wise beyond his years. But nothing could prepare him for a renowned Mumbai doctor telling him that his compressed vertebrae at 20 actually gave him the back of a 55-year-old. From letting go of his singles dreams despite being a Top 3 in India, Sumeeth switched to doubles and made it all the way to qualifying for Olympics despite limited hitting mobility, alongside Manu Attri, another clever shuttler from Meerut.
An aggressive attitude at the net and non-stop tactical tweaks to out-think the opponent, were Sumeeth’s strengths. And after announcing his retirement on Monday, Sumeeth is ready to plunge into full-scale coaching, including crucially for India’s top women’s doubles pairing, the Top 10 Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.Sumeeth talks about the transition from player to coach.
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How did doubles badminton happen despite being a top India junior at one stage?I was a fairly good junior at one point ranked ahead of (future Olympians) B Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy. But on the brink of seniors, one sudden day this shocking pain started and I couldn’t bend, walk without wall support or use the washroom. The physios told me it looked major and doctors told me from the MRI that it was bone degeneration, either hereditary or due to over-use. When I saw Sachin Tendulkar’s doctor (Dr Anant Joshi), he said I had the back of a 55-year-old. It was in bad shape. Singles took a massive hit, but Gopi bhaiyya suggested I try doubles. My game was never skillful or about strokes, but I could hit 40/50 mid-smashes without getting tired – 5 more than opponent – and was aggressive at the net. I gave it a shot, what else could I do?
What was challenging about taking up badminton?We would literally travel for 6 hours, 130 kms, changing buses at Lakdi ka pul twice to reach Gachibowli for two sessions because I lived at Uppal. Take the first bus at 4.30 am for 6 o’clock session, then return for evening training. So many times I fell asleep on the bus stop, but we didn’t see it as struggle because we wanted to play. But it’s tough to keep doing 8-10 hours training without winning much, for 8 years. The family was spending Rs 15,000 out of Rs 25,000 salary on my game. Racquet strings breaking meant a disaster at home, and there was stress because I didn’t have a job till I was 20. Then the back injury happened, but thankfully I started winning in doubles.
How tough was the journey to Olympics?We are talking about 2012-2015 when support for doubles was non exent, but Manu Attri and I were prepared for the grind. There was no TOPS or OGQ for us, and foreign coach (Tan Kim Her) and official funding (TOPS) came through only in December 2015 after we had almost qualified, going from around  World No 50-60 to coming within the 13 qualifiers bracket. It was about playing small finals, and using the $1000 prize money to travel to next one. We accepted we were in no position to win a big Super Series, so we travelled on our own funding to smaller meets. At one point, we played tournaments in Mexico, US, Guatemala, China, Vladivostok, Lagos non-stop. No coach or physio. Staying in bunk beds and not hotels, skipping meals was common. Some tournaments were really random – one central American venue was a tin shed placed on a large hill cave, where the court mat was dog-eared and constantly rolled in. But we wanted the Olympics.
What was Manu like as a partner, and now that you both are coaching, is there competition?He was fun-loving, I was serious. We had nothing in common to even talk about outside of badminton. So we barely roomed together when with India teams. But we were both very professional and focussed on the goal. Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar were the top India pair and they had tried to qualify for the London Olympics but unfortunately fallen short. There were many good pairs at the Srinagar Nationals, but I was very good at using the pressure on seniors when playing juniors to pile pressure on them with tactics and aggression. That’s how we won our first National coming out of nowhere, and got some good international wins. I admire Manu’s discipline as coach and there will be healthy competition as we both coach.Story continues below this ad
How important was Sikki’s support? (Fellow Top 20 doubles player and leftie wife)Huge support. My back injury happened the same time as her knee was shot. We rehabbed together and started dating. Funnily, my first win was also when she win her first women’s doubles title. I am prone to doubting myself all the time and am very serious. She won a lot in juniors, so she is always a positive player which helped me dominate nationally till 2018.
As coach, what experiences do you carry over from being a player?We were never powerful or hard hitters like Satwik-Chirag, so frankly even a foreign coach wouldn’t have helped us much. But whatever we won was tactically. Don’t hit hard, but don’t lift, play a flat game that troubles the power hitters, cause confusion in them and push them back. As coach I constantly keep reminding pairings of small things. I can pounce on those moments when momentum shifts, when attitude and aggression can help turn tables on those with big games. I keep telling Treesa-Gayatri I believe they can beat the top ranked Chinese if they believe it themselves. They were a set and 6-3 up last week at the Swiss Open, and needed to be a little more aggressive, create more tension in the Chinese ranks. The win will come soon.
Happy with your career?No regrets. Couldn’t have worked more harder. Gave it my all. Could’ve been smarter. I was never someone who couldn’t lift 100 kg in the gym with my back. But I learnt to play smart. Now I want to help as an Indian coach. I want my family circle to say, ‘he helped win for the country.’