Player-turned-coach Shlok Ramchandran making waves in United States

Former Indian shuttler Shlok Ramchandran has been excelling on multiple fronts. Proving a point or two to his detractors, Shlok does his job to perfection on and off the court. Displaying his versatile abilities, Shlok is making his mark both as a player and as a coach.

In the recently held 2022 Yonex Frisco Open in the USA, Shlok dominated the three-day tournament. The tournament was hosted in Frisco Badminton Dallas, Texas. It’s one of the biggest prize money tournaments in the US.

26-year-old Shlok won the men’s doubles and finished as runner-up in the men’s singles to prove his all-round skills. Shlok, a former world No. 32 in the men’s doubles, has shifted to the USA and is working as the head coach at Triangle Badminton and Table tennis (TBTT) in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Shlok and Haris Prathama won the men’s doubles title with a thrilling victory in the summit clash last Sunday. New combination Shlok and Haris edged past Canada’s Derrick Ng and Toby Ng 21-16, 12-21, 22-20 in the men's doubles final, which lasted 43 minutes.

Shlok and Haris started well and claimed the first game, 21-16. However, the Ng brothers fought back and quickly grabbed the second game to force the decider. There was an intense fight for every point in the deciding game. Shlok and Haris kept their composure in trying circumstances to clinch the decider 22-20 for a maiden triumph.

Shlok and Haris stunned second seeds Abhishek Ahlawat and Ankit Chhikara 21-8, 21-7 in less than half an hour in the semifinals. Even in the quarterfinals, Shlok and Haris were stretched to three games by Fiesel Wiranto and Dicky Cahya Yusitwa.

Shlok misses double crown with a whisker

Tall and lean, Shlok had a golden chance to bag a double crown. However, former Indian doubles specialist Shlok missed the mark with a whisker. In the men’s singles final, Shlok went down fighting against second seed Sheng Lyu.

The American shuttler quelled a spirited challenge from Shlok with a hard-fought 21-9, 18-21, 21-18 victory. The high-quality summit clash lasted nearly an hour and tested the temperament of both finalists. In the semifinal, Shlok edged past Muhammad Aldo Apriyandi 15-21, 21-19, 21-8 in a battle that lasted an hour and 6 minutes.

Earlier, Shlok launched his campaign in style by dismissing Saranyu Wasuwat 21-13, 21-6 before getting a walkover in the next round. It was a hectic weekend for Shlok. In the short span of three days, Shlok had to play some energy-sapping matches to reach the finals. The former Mumbai shuttler was delighted with his performance.

“It was a memorable and amazing weekend for me. It was a good start to 2022. I did well in both the categories. In singles, I beat 21-year-old former Indonesian junior No. 1 Muhammad Aldo Apriyandi in the quarterfinals 15-21, 21-19, 21-8. But then I lost out to the former Chinese national player and now Beiwang Zhang’s sparring partner and the head coach at Pioneer Badminton Club Shenglu Yu 9-21 21-18 18-21,” said Shlok while talking to Sportskeeda.

Shlok started his career as a singles player but later in his career became a doubles specialist.

“In the doubles I teamed up with Indonesian Haris Prarthana. In round 16 we beat USA 2016 Olympic player Sattawat Ponigrat, who paired up with Shenglu Yu, in three games. In the quarterfinals, we beat the Indonesian pair of Winarto and Dicky in 3 games as well. In the semifinal, we got the better of my former compatriots Ahlawat and Chikkara in straight games,” said Shlok.

Although Shlok has not been competing at the BWF international circuit for the last couple of years, he has not lost the competitive touch.

“In the finals we were up against 2016 Olympian from Canada Toby Ng and his brother Derek Ng. We won the first game and lost the second lead 16-14. In the third and deciding game, we went down 16-18. However, we then recovered and had two match points which were both saved by them. But eventually closed it off 22-20,” said Shlok.

After representing the Indian senior national team on numerous occasions between 2015 and 2019, Shlok shocked everyone when he decided to take an indefinite sabbatical in 2020. He left for the US to pursue his career in coaching at such a young age.

“I was appointed as the head coach at Triangle Badminton and Table tennis and have been working with senior head coach Hendry Winarto for a while now. Our student Sanchita Pandey won a doubles crown (women’s doubles and mixed doubles) at the USA adult nationals and is representing the USA at the Pan Am Championships starting next week,” said Shlok.

Shlok is new to coaching but adapts well to the new profession. He wants to become one of the best coaches in the world.

“It’s a long term development plan here at TBTT with most of our kids being Under-13 and below. I often try to find time around my coaching schedule to train myself and keep the spark alive and the club owners Nishal Ravi and Jason Niu have been extremely supportive. I’m still developing my craft as a coach and with time I hope I can be one of the best coaches in the world,” said Shlok.