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Meiraba Luwang, a 20-year old promising shuttler from Manipur, burst onto the scene with a title win in the All India Senior Rankings tournament. He has plenty of previous laurels to his name as well in the younger age group tournaments.
With his natural talent, dedication, and hard work, he has quickly become one of the most promising young players in India, and his impressive achievements have earned him a growing fanbase of supporters.
Speaking about his title win in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Meiraba expressed gratitude while wanting his next big breakthrough to be getting into the Indian contingent for the Asian Games. He also elaborated on what he needed to do better on the court in order to find himself a place in the Indian squad. He said:
"I think I won this tournament after a long time, so I felt grateful about winning the tournament and was excited to win more tournaments like that, but for now I am preparing for the Asian Trials which will happen next month. I will start training for the trials."
Meiraba added:
"I think I have to play at a slightly faster pace than I do. I am trying to improve that as well. Other small aspects I need to improve which may be small but are very important for me. Mostly on-court, I think I need to sharpen my skills."
The win has given his confidence a huge boost and he believes that he can surely win a few more such tournaments to make a mark.
"After winning the tournament, I think that I can win more tournaments like this in the future too. I feel quite confident about it and I am happy and excited for the upcoming tournaments."
However, there was nothing special that Meiraba focused on before the tournament and iterated that the coaches helped him in recognizing where his faults were and how he should improve.
"It depends on the coaches - what skills I should develop and what I should improve on. It depends on the coaching methods. I was training for a lot of tournaments before that too. I try to maintain what I have instead of focusing on one aspect."
"I think it will be very beneficial for me" - Meiraba Luwang hopes for an opportunity in Premier Badminton League
Meiraba is yet to feature in the Premier Badminton League but he reckons being a part of it will do him a world of good. Apart from financial support, he will gain a plethora of experience playing against international stars.
"I think it will be very beneficial for me because I will be given a lot of financial support by playing in those leagues. Many international players will also participate so it will be a good experience and it'll be fun."
The 20-year old also spoke about how younger players of this generation learn a lot of lessons from the senior players and also spoke about how if he stays calm, the game will be exciting for him instead of becoming a burden. He elaborated:
"To be sincere, I have not observed what previous generations have done. What the previous generations have done, they have given us, they have taught us all those lessons much earlier than when they learnt. We learn the lessons a few years prior to what they have learned.
"When you are young, you are excited to play against the seniors. You want to see how good they are. If I know how to stay calm and how to play then it becomes exciting instead of becoming a big burden."
Meiraba finally signed off by envisioning the future of badminton in India and his hometown, Manipur, where there seems to be an increased interest taken in the sport.
"I think it will be exciting. A lot of players are already interested and more people are coming in so I think it is good for the sport. Even in my hometown, many people are starting to talk about badminton. They play it in nearby community halls. I think it will be exciting."
Meiraba Luwang will be seen in action at the Asian Games trials held by BAI and will surely be looking to cement a spot in the team on the back of an impressive domestic season.
