Former ISWK student makes to Indian badminton team

Janani Anantha Kumar, an alumnus of Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir, has made it to the Indian junior badminton team for the Badminton Asian Junior (U-15 and U-17) Championships at Surabaya, Indonesia, from December 11 to 15. Janani will team up with her Karnataka state teammate Tanya Hemanth in the U-17 doubles.

Currently 16, Janani made big impression in Bengaluru in 2018 when she reached the final of the All India Sub-Junior tournament, defeating four seeded players enroute to the final. She claimed silver medal in the singles discipline, which was a huge boost to her confidence and commitment. In 2019, Janani, represented Karnataka state in January — at the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) championships at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. She won the gold in the team event.

Janani teamed up with Tanya and notched up back-to-back gold medals at the All India Sub-Junior Badminton Championships at Imphal and Guwahati, in a span of two weeks’ time. Janani teamed up with Suhas to wrap up the bronze medal at Guwahati in the U-17 Mixed Doubles discipline.

Currently, in the U-17 discipline, Janani is ranked No. 2 in singles, No. 1 in doubles and No. 4 in the mixed doubles, as per the latest rankings released by Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Anantha Kumar, Janani’s father who is working at Majan Electricity Company in Sohar, said she has a passion for the game.

“Janani always gives her 100 per cent on the court. And she shows lot of fighting spirit on the court. Her determination to perform and excel in her favourite sport has earned her the spot in the Indian team for Asian championship,” he said.

Janani started her badminton at Grade IV in ISWK. Currently, Janani is undergoing her coaching at I-sports in Bengaluru under the watchful eyes of Krishna Kumar and Yashukumar. During her stay in Muscat, she was training under Suresh and Ashutosh Pant.

Janani idolises former World No. 1, Malaysian superstar – Lee Chong Wei and Chinese Taipei superstar – Tai Tzu Ying as her role models and inspiration.

The lanky player is aiming to give her best in the forthcoming Asian Badminton Sub-Junior Championship.