NEW DELHI: Unnati Hooda began her BWF World Championships journey with a straight-game win on Tuesday, but the 18-year-old Indian shuttler’s biggest moment came when she spoke about the man who has sacrificed his own career to help shape hers — her father and coach, Upkar Hooda.Unnati defeated Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar 22-20, 21-16 in her first-round match in New Delhi and will next face 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada. But after the victory, her thoughts quickly turned to her father, a former university-level player who quit his government college job to travel with his daughter and support her badminton career full-time.“I’m not forced (into badminton). Of course, definitely there is a massive contribution of my family and my dad. He quit his job as well. So I cannot say in words how much he has contributed to me, but yeah, I am really thankful that I have a great family who support me a lot,” Unnati told PTI.Her father was also in the dugout during her World Championships debut, continuing to guide her even as she has shifted her training base to Chhotu Ram Stadium Badminton Academy in Rohtak, where she works with coach Parvesh Kumar.Asked who was sitting in her corner during the match, Unnati simply said: “No, that was my father. Right now, I train with him, my father.”
Unnati draws confidence from Ayush Shetty ‘s upset
Unnati is refusing to be overawed by the biggest stage of her young career. Ayush Shetty’s stunning upset of world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi on Monday has only strengthened her belief that Indian shuttlers can challenge the best.“Very special moment (first World Championships). I just want to focus on my game tomorrow. Like, I just want to give my all, 100 per cent and be there and just enjoy because it’s going to be a good match,” she said.“He (Shetty) is my good friend and he played really well yesterday. And definitely he won against the seeded number one here. So it really gives everyone confidence that just remember who you are and just give it all. On the court, there is one versus one and anybody can lose and anyone can win. So just believe in yourself.”Against Thuzar, Unnati needed patience to negotiate the drift conditions. She said she spent much of the opening game understanding the movement of the shuttle before taking control in the closing stages.“In the first set, I was just trying to understand the drift and everything, but she was also playing, she was very good and all. It was going neck-and-neck, but yeah, I think in the last five points of the first game I controlled and stayed patient, and then she made some mistakes,” she said.The Indian then noticed that her attacking game was more effective from the opposite end in the second game.“And then in the second game, I was able to see that from that end of the court, the attack is going faster, so I just played my game, attacking, and it helped me to stick to the plan,” she added.
