Meet Ira Sharma, India’s next big badminton sensation
- SM Arif, a coach for players like Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta has revealed the next badminton sensation.
- Arif said Ira Sharma a 17-year-old girl reminds him of Saina Nehwal.
- In her first trial, Sharma had failed to convince Arif, but she is Arif’s choice for representing India.
FollowFormer India national coach, SM Arif has named Ira Sharma, a 17-year-old girl as the next sensation in badminton world after Saina Nehwal.
Arif’s words have to be considered seriously. He was the coach for players like Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta.
Talking to Bengali daily Ebela, Arif said that Sharma reminds him of Saina Nehwal in her young age that he groomed during the early years of her sports career.
Sharma had failed to convince Arif in her first trial. Not stopping at this, Arif identified her hidden talent. He played a trick to know whether she loves badminton genuinely.
He placed a mobile phone and a racquet beside each other and asked Sharma to pick the one which she liked. To his luck, Sharma chose the racquet.
Talking about the scenario of Indian badminton, Kidambi Srikanth has already won the hearts of the masses by his performance.
In women’s category, there is a need of one such talent on whom the country can rely on. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa’s bronze at the 2011 World Championship put India on the global map.
Then came Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. Winning a silver medal for the country in the Rio Olympics 2016, Sindhu was applauded across the world. She became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal for badminton.
Considering the time which has passed by, India is yet to see the ‘She Power’ and Sharma can be the next best thing.
Sharma is hoping to qualify for the World Junior Championships in October.
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