Khelo India Youth Games: A special moment, says Badminton player Unnati Hooda after trumping world junior number four

As 14-year-old Unnati Hooda completed her comeback 9-21, 23-21, 21-12 win against former world junior number one and current world junior number four Tasnim Mir of Gujarat to win the girls’ singles badminton title in the Fourth Khelo India Youth Games at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, the teenager rushed to her father Upakar Hooda and younger brother Jaivardhan Hooda apart from coach Parvesh Kumar. Unnati, who had become India’s youngest player to win a BWF Super 100 title, was trailing 9-21, 10-18 once in the final match against Mir before she completed the win.

“Even though I was trailing 10-18 in the second game with Tasnim needing only three more points to win the title, I was thinking only to fight hard. To win the title after such a final against a player like Tasnim feels special. My father always sits in the coaches’ corner as he travels with me and he too was telling me not to give up. It’s my first Khelo India gold and to win in my home state has made the moment a special one,” shared Unnati while speaking
with The Indian Express.

Eldest daughter of educationist parents Upakar and Kavita Hooda from Chamaria village near Rohtak, Unnati was enrolled at the badminton academy under coach Parvesh Kumar at Sir Chotu Ram Stadium in Rohtak at the age of seven years.

In 2018, the youngster won the bronze medal in the U-13 category in the U-13 Junior National Badminton Championship at Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh before she won U-13 title in two All India Ranking Tournaments in 2019.
Unnati Hooda with her family after winning gold in girl Badminton during Khelo India Youth Games at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula. (Express Photo by Jaipal Singh)

Apart from winning medals in the U-13 and U-15 doubles category in national ranking tournaments, Hooda would also win the U-15 national title in 2019. “Most members of our family are educationists. Hence, we wanted Unnati to try something new. As her interest grew and she played in more tournaments, I quit my job in 2017 to travel with her for her tournaments. To cheer her whether she wins or loses has been our biggest reward,” said Upakar Hooda.

While the youngster reached the final of India International Challenge in Bengaluru last year, she won the title in BWF Odisha Open, a Super 100 event, with a win over Smit Toshniwal in the final to become the youngest Indian woman to win a BWF Super 100 event. “When Unnati came to train under me, she was less than three feet in height. But she displayed good reach in reaching to the shuttles and her main strength was her focus level. We had to work on her service, smash, net dribbles and toss and drop shots over the years and she is always eager to learn and train more. On a normal training day, we make her practice about 1,600 drop shots. The Odisha Open title win will only motivate her more,” said Parvesh Kumar.

The youngster was part of the Indian badminton team in Uber Cup in Thailand last month and also saw the Indian men’s team winning the historic team title in the Thomas Cup. “Being part of the Indian Uber Cup team was a special meeting for me. To see players like double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu inspired me a lot. The way HS Prannoy sir won the fifth match in most of the ties inspired me to never give up. To meet PM Narendra Modi last month too was a memorable moment for me. I will be playing in Bonn International in Germany next week and my next target is to win an International title,” said Unnati, who is ranked 243 in BWF world senior women’s rankings.