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Journalism of Courage
As a child, Noopur Sahasrabudhe admired her mother Manjusha’s dedication to badminton, and visiting the court quickly became her favourite part of the day. Little did she know that, years later, the mother-daughter duo would make history by winning a state championship and other tournaments.
Post Covid-19 and despite facing surgeries, the Pune based winning mother-daughter team is back and recently claimed the top spot at the national badminton tournament organised by the Uttarakhand Badminton Association.
Noopur says she has a natural flair for badminton and would train with her mother, a seasoned player who has represented India multiple times in prestigious Senior World Badminton Championships. She recalled how motivated she would get when she would see her mother play. “She is so senior and so active. I am totally inspired by her. Also, it is so cool to play with my mom and win,” Noopur added.
The achievement is noteworthy as this was the sole mother-daughter pair from Maharashtra to win at the national Doon Smashers Masters badminton tournament held at Dehradun (September 20-22). Women’s Doubles 80+ requires the combined age of both participants to exceed 80 years. “In our case, my mother is 62 and I am 36, while most of our opponents were around 40 years old each,” Noopur recalled.
At the event, Manjusha won a triple crown each across the Women’s Singles 60+, Combined Age Group Women’s Doubles 80+ (with her daughter Noopur), and Mixed Doubles 120+ (with Harjit Singh, Delhi). Noopur won the Women’s Singles 35+, Women’s Doubles 80+ (with her mother), and Mixed Doubles 80+.
For the young woman, though an Achilles Tendon repair may have been a setback sometime in 2015, but inheriting her mother’s determination and will power made her bounce back to not only compete in badminton tournaments but take on the triathlon challenge, qualify, and finish the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in October last year.
Manjusha, a Badminton World Federation Asia Accredited Referee and a coach with the Poona District Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA), also suffered shoulder and knee injuries that required surgery in 2019-20. “It was a challenging time but post-surgery, I underwent rehabilitation that included physiotherapy and strength training at the gym,” Manjusha said.
With Manjusha set to travel as a referee at the Korea Junior International Challenge in November this year and Noopur’s work as an HR specialist at a Pune firm, the mother-daughter ensure that they practice at least three to four times a week. Not surprisingly this deep bond creates a powerful connection on the court as this winning team is now gearing up to compete in a major national event next year.
