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Tarun Kona is one of the rising stars of Indian badminton. This young powerful smasher of the shuttlecock has made his mark in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Excerpts from a tete-a tete with him:
Q. How tough has the loss against China been in the Sudirman Cup?
Well, the loss against China was disappointing indeed because all the players had worked hard in the build up to the Sudirman Cup. There were quite a few positives from the tie as well. Sindhu played really well against Wang Yihan and almost scored a point for us. Akshay and Pranav had a good chance in the men’s doubles as well.
Q. Why is there such a huge gap between India and China/Indonesia?
I don’t think there is a lot of gap between India and Indonesia/China because if you look at the results lately, Saina and Sindhu have been beating the Chinese players. Even Kashyap won his match against Rumbaka and has beaten Chen Long in the Indonesian open last year. When it comes to women’s doubles, Ashwini and Pradnya have beaten Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua of China in Malaysia in January. In mixed doubles, me and Ashwini have played some close matches against the Indonesian pairs, as well as Korean pairs. So overall if you look at it, it all boils down to who plays well on that particular day. Even against Indonesia, we had our chances as Kashyap had won his match and we had our hopes tied on Sindhu and on the women’s doubles match. Sindhu had beaten her opponent in January, so we were confident. In women’s doubles, we lost two close games. Therefore, I feel we could have pulled it off against Indonesia but we were just unlucky.
Q. What effect did Saina Nehwal’s absence have on the team?
Yeah, it was definitely a blow when we came to know that Saina wasn’t playing because Saina is Saina. The Chinese and all the others fear playing her. So it was quiet a setback for us, but Sindhu played well.
Q. How is Ashwini as a senior partner?
Ashwini has a lot of experience ; she reads the game well, which kind of helps us during the match. She is the one who does the talking during the match as in doubles, one of the partners has to do the talking. She calms me down during tense situations in a match. I need to learn that from her.
Q. Girls are generally slower than boys. Is that frustrating sometimes on court?
In mixed doubles, the girls, in general, are very good at the net and they create openings for the guy to finish. Therefore, role of the girl is very important in mixed doubles. Well, I think Ashwini has one of the hardest smashers in the game, and is fastest mover when compared to other girls, so it’s not frustrating for me at all.
Q. Do you think doubles and mixed doubles deserve more support and attention?
The doubles scene has definitely improved. The Badminton Association of India is sending us for more tournaments and it’s good. Definitely, doubles and mixed doubles should be given more importance as only then the juniors will take up doubles from an early age. In Indonesia and China, all the players focus on doubles from the age of 14 or less, but it’s only in India that all of us start off playing singles and shift to doubles only after our junior category is over, which is at around 19. So, kids should be encouraged to take up doubles at a young age and given the right training from say 14. Even the media needs to cover doubles in a better way. For example, I and Ashwini beat the world number nine in Germany, in March and it wasn’t highlighted at all. Ashwini and Pradnya beat the Chinese world number six in Malaysia. If the coverage improves, the younger lot will be encouraged to take up doubles at an early age. This is what I feel.
Q. Why do you think Indian players haven’t yet made a mark in mixed doubles in the international circuit?
Well I think we are still young (all of us are 24 or less) and have lots to improve on. In the last 3-4 months, the training has changed. Gopi sir and all the other coaches are working hard on us. Gopi sir has changed our training program. It’s more intense and its turning out quite well. We are focusing more on consistency and power and it’s helping us a lot. I am sure, within the next year or so, you will definitely see better results from all the doubles players.
Q. What’s your training schedule like?
We basically train for 5 hours a day. We have on court training from 8:30 to 10:30 in the morning, which is followed by another on court session from 3 to 4:30 pm. Then, we have a gym session from 5 to 6 on Tuesday, Thusrday and Saturday, and on the other two days, apart from the two on court sessions, we have another on court session from 6-7 in the evening. Wednesday evenings are off and so is Sunday.
Q. How often do you practice with Ashwini?
Ashwini comes to Hyderabad whenever the national camps are on and camps are on almost throughout the year. Apart from that, when there’s a break between the camps I go to Bangalore and train with her under Tom sir.
Q. In men’s doubles, what targets have you and Arun set for this year?
Currently, me and Arun are ranked 38 in the world and our aim is to break into the top 25 by the end of this year. As far as mixed doubles is concerned, we are 31 right now and we aim to break into the top 20 by the end of the year.
Q. What are your strengths in the game? If you were to pick out one best quality of both your partners, what will they be?
Well, my strong point is my net game, as in doubles there has to be a play maker who sets up the rally for the partner to finish. As I have a good net game, my role is to see that my partner gets an opening to finish off the rally. I am lucky to have partners who have very hard smashes. Even in our mixed doubles matches, we don’t play the conventional style where the guy is at the back and the girl in front. It’s different for us as; Ashwini has a very hard smash and I am good at the net. So more often than not, she’s at the back and I am at the net. Apart from this, Ashwini has improved her net game a lot and I am working on improving my smashes and back court play. Another thing is that I and Ashwini talk a lot about the game, so we kind of discuss about various pairs, and how they play and all.
