Shriyanshi Valishetty is part of the great Indian Jostle to take over from PV Sindhu in women’s singles. Of the 9 Indians ranked in Top 51, she is the 8th at World No 49. But this last week, while most of the chasing pack was at the Super 500 Malaysia event, Valishetty was at a Super 300 at Baoji, China, a smaller grade event comparably, but boasting China’s upcoming threats – notably World Junior and Youth Olympic champion Xu Wen Jing.
The Chinese stepping onto the seniors circuit is 18, while Valishetty, 19 with many Indians taking the step up early to ease transition into the open events. Significantly, Valishetty defeated the Chinese shuttler touted to be their next big thing, 21-13, 21-17 in the semifinals.
A reality check was swift, as she lost to fellow 19-year-old Yuan An Qi in the final, 21-14, 21-6 as her endurance let her down and she was drained by the time she reached the final. But it was a big learning on playing in hostile arenas with partisan Chinese crowds cheering on for their home favourites.
Xu Wen Jing had beaten India’s firebrand Ashmita Chaliha a day earlier. But Valishetty, an attacking-intended youngster herself, took the fight to the Chinese. “I had flown in from Mexico and landed just before my first round match at China, so was jet-lagged. It took time to adjust to the drift,” she recalls of the first two rounds, though she didn’t drop a set. The fast courts suited her blistering game style, though when she lined up against Xu, she was aware of the waves of noise that could hit her eardrums in an arena packed with a Chinese full house.
“It was fast conditions when playing her. I didn’t think about losing,” says the Hyderabad shuttler, who followed her older brother into the sport at the Pullela Gopichand academy, and trained in swimming and gymnastics, to aid her badminton fitness. In China though, she needed composure to out-attack the aggressive Xu, and silence a partisan crowd.
“All my strokes were going well, but I was playing not just the opponent but also the crowd. Luckily I couldn’t hear anything except the coach,” she said of blocking out the noise. “I knew she was trying to attack, and I was trying to not allow her by playing my smashes,” she explained. Known for her restlessness to finish rallies, the skilled offensive player stubbed out Xu with little fuss. In the second set, Valishetty also pushed the pace precisely when Xu was threatening to come back into the game.
Robust defence
While her attack is her forte, her defence isn’t shabby either. Like Kidambi Srikanth, it’s honed by years of playing doubles alongside her friend Vennala Kalagotla, a Asian juniors bronze medallist. “I played a lot of doubles in the U19s, and didn’t have great results in singles till juniors. But coaches are now focusing on my net and defence, though I have pretty good dribbles and pushes,” she says.
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Valishetty is currently training under B Sai Praneeth, India’s senior World Championships bronze medallist from Basel 2019 who’s helping her increase her repertoire of strokes. Earlier, Rahul Yadav made her aware of her attacking potential, stressing on the need to not dawdle in rallies. Her aggressive smashes and pushes – reminiscent of Saina or Sindhu, however, need tempering of consistency.
Sai Praneeth shares his match experiences with her. “Main mistake I make is lose points suddenly in a bunch. He’s helping in bringing in consistency,” she says. It’s what happened in the lopsided final she lost. “I made a lot of errors and my opponent was better than me,” she says. Though ranked No 150, it’s a measure of China’s depth and the fact that their bench strength doesn’t travel much on Tour, but remains lethal.
Moving from juniors to seniors can be like running into a gust. “In seniors, players handle situations better. They know when to increase pace and stay calm. In juniors you get points on silly errors of opponents. But now I need to focus on consistency and speed – it’s what Gopi sir has told me,” says the athlete supported by the Reliance Foundation.
She is now bolstered by their S&C, nutrition and psychology teams, and the results should kick in in coming months. A fan of An Se-young for her consistency, Valishetty doesn’t want to rule out a late surge ahead of selections for Asian Games. “Even if that doesn’t happen, we have healthy competition in India,” she says of the Jostle of the second rung. “If my friends are doing well, it gives me confidence that even we can beat big names,” she says.
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Ashmita goes down in 3 sets
Ashmita Chaliha, ranked No 71, went down to World No 23 Line Kjaersfeldt, who has been on a spree of beating Indian names. The Assamese lost 23-21, 21-18, 21-11 as India’s lone remaining challenger faded out of Malaysia Masters Super 500 failing to make good leads of 23-21, 10-5 in the first two sets.
The clever Dane, 32, used all her experience to draw level in the second set, as Ashmita’s steady mid-court game came undone at both the net and in defending Kjaersfeldt’s deep smashes. Having travelled in from China and playing qualifiers, Ashmita lost steam, frittering away a chance to make the Super 500 semis.
