Winning early - in the late teens - is imperative in badminton. It is ideal since the shelf life of a shuttler's peak lasts till the age of 30. Unlike other sports, where players tend to adapt to an ageing body by focusing more on skills and ensuring their bodies are less stressed, injuries wreak havoc on the body and get the better of even the best players, making them slow and nearly incapable of winning tournaments post 30. It becomes a tussle between the mind and body when both refuse to coordinate.
The recent retirement of Carolina Marin and Viktor Axelsen, and the current form of PV Sindhu, are firm reminders. Sindhu was 21 when she won the 2016 Rio Olympics silver, and Marin, the gold medallist, was 23.
Anmol Kharb, the teenager who helped India clinch the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) crown in 2024 at just 17, appeared destined for a rapid rise. She backed that breakthrough with singles and team gold for Haryana at the 2025 National Games. The success attracted support from Yonex, Olympic Gold Quest, the government’s TOPS programme, and ONGC. Yet injury concerns, coupled with a focus on her Class 12 board examinations, cost her more than a year of momentum.
Now an English major student at Manav Rachana University, the Faridabad girl is giving her all to badminton, focusing on building on her 2024 gains - travelling all the way to Greater Noida for her morning training and then going for another session at her university facility in the evening.
Asked about the missed time, her father, Devender Singh, an advocate and former Kabaddi player, pointed the most difficult aspect a young athlete and their parents deal with. "Education is important. We could not ignore that. That is why she fell a little behind in the ranking," Devender told Sports Now. "Otherwise, she would have been in India's Uber Cup team."
India's Uber Cup squad for 2026 was selected based on ranking. Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma, Devika Sihag, and Isharani Baruah were preferred for second and third singles matches. Sindhu was the top choice. The campaign ended on a disappointing note, with India exiting in the group stage for the first time since 2018, losing to Denmark and China.
She is a nimble-footed player. While she is quick on the court and has developed a wristy game, her feeble body is a concern, admitted Devender. She often wrongfoots herself.
The focus is now on both injury management and game polishing, and more importantly, endurance building -an element nowadays scarce in Indian badminton. Most overseas players undo Indian youngsters by pacing up the shuttle at the net, cutting reaction time and not allowing them to construct shots, pushing them into mental overdrive and disrupting their movement. It is a pattern well known, and most Indian players get caught in the melee, as evident at the recently concluded Uber Cup. The drill is tough, but there is no second thought for the 19-year-old Anmol.
"Puri jaan laga rahi hai(she is giving it her all), it is only a matter of time before she regains her lost ground," said Devender.
For Anmol, the immediate target is qualifying for the Asian Games and the BWF World Championships, to be held in New Delhi from August 17 to 23. Though she has had a stop-start season in 2026 and has not played an international event since March, she is confident about her prospects of qualifying for the Asian Games, to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4. The ultimate focus is on Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
