Next jump-smash star Hariharan: Raised on borrowed shuttles, unpaid loans

“Junior tournaments happened one after another, so two-day train journeys weren’t possible. But our finances were not great for expensive flight tickets,” 23-year-old Hari recalls.

But the climb to the top tier almost didn’t happen, till Satwik himself convinced him to shift to Hyderabad, where he is now India’s No.2 pair with MR Arjun.

“To ask my father for Rs 40,000 to play 3-4 tournaments used to be tough, though he always managed something. But if I lost in first round, I’d feel guilty to ask him for next, so I’d skip meets,” the 22-year-old recalls.

Hariharan (right) will make his India debut in men’s doubles at the Delhi World Championships this week. (BAI)

His older sister Deepika first started out in the sport at school in Mannargudi. She would focus on studies, where she now pursues computer science, prioritising Hari’s fast-rising career as his attacking style got coaches anticipating big things.

“There are unpaid bank loans still from back then because badminton equipment and travel is expensive. But our father could see Hari was talented. He was determined to see him do well,” she says.

The family would collect old shuttles, and Tamil Nadu seniors and benevolent coaches like Mannargudi Suthakar in Tanjore, Nandakumar at Kamala Subramanian school and later Mahendran Radha in Coimbatore chipped in with jerseys and shoes. But it all began on outdoor cement courts with plastic shuttles.

“Feather shuttles were too much initially so we learnt to control plastic shuttles. Shoes, I needed to stitch them repeatedly. But the travel was the biggest expense because you finished Friday-Saturday and next meet started on Monday. My father insisted I go all out. He loves sport,” he says.

Managing grief

Amsakarunan doesn’t really understand badminton’s Super 750, Super 1000 hierarchy, and his late wife, Hari’s mother, didn’t quite know badminton, only that her children enjoyed the sport. “After she passed away from illness (6 years ago), I was very sad and angry. I used badminton to focus on something because I would break down suddenly. I pushed very hard in practice in those 2 years,” Hari recalls of managing his grief.

The smash, registered at 470kph+ at one international tournament, had an interesting story. His badminton itself had started as a trick his father conjured to ensure he reached school at 9.30 a.m. “I would wake up at 9 to reach school. I was an average student and never liked studying or school. So my father decided to put me in badminton session which began at 7 a.m,” he recalls. Naturally, he awoke at 6.30 only. But at least reached school on time.

An Under-17 national title with another talented TN partner, Ruban Rethinasabapathi, shifted something within him. “I knew this is what I wanted to do. Local sponsorships started coming in. But it’s only when I met Satwik-Chirag at the Nationals and he said, ‘You come to Hyderabad. Don’t worry. You are my brother’ that I decided to move. They are both superb not just on court, but off it in guiding youngsters. They talk in a way that you start thinking you are good too,” he says.

While he grew up borrowing smartphones to watch videos of Lee Chong Wei in singles, the jump smash took shape. “In juniors you throw yourself around with speed never fearing injury. But when I shifted to doubles and to Hyderabad I learnt to be technical in jumps and not careless. Satwik-Chirag are my role models, but I also admire Kevin (Sanjay Sukamuljo) and Marcus (Gideon), because they were also not so tall like me,” he says of the famous Indonesian Minions.

Deepika says Hari now returns to Mannargudi for only one day every year. “Travelling to here takes him two days. His sweets eating is restricted but he stays disciplined, except for once a year chakkara pongal,” she says. They make it a point to serve him his favourite sweet Pongal, cooked in a traditional brass vessel.

A livewire on court, Hari explodes on the backcourt and is set up by the canny Arjun. His base fitness is also thanks to his father. “He was an amateur athlete. And just for fitness he would make me do road runs timed at 30 minutes,” he remembers. His jump and run combo and endurance is also down to those morning road runs. “Things are OK now,” he says. The runway has smoothened out. Now, a takeoff is awaited at the World Championships.