Patience pays for Trupti

Perseverance and hard work paid off for Trupti Murgunde who broke her jinx at the National badminton championships in style at its 74th edition in Guwahati.
Trupti had faltered at the final hurdle on four previous occasions but this time, there was no stopping the Maharashtrian as she defeated reigning champion Sayali Gokhale in the title round.

“It ended a long wait for me. It was a huge relief for me as I couldn’t make it on four occasions in the past,” said Trupti. “Starting from 2001, my first year in the senior ranks, I was very keen to win the national title. Though I had to wait for a long time, I never felt disappointed. I worked hard all these years and waited patiently. I had faith in myself which helped me to become the champion,” she added.

Determined
The 26-year-old said she was determined to prove a point this time. “I had lost one final too many. So this time, I said to myself I am going to win it. I was confident right from the start of the meet. My body was also in good shape compared to previous years and I also stayed injury free,” said Trupti, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bangalore.

Elaborating on the final against her training partner and friend Sayali, Trupti said, “Last year I went down to Sayali in the semifinals. We both know each other’s game very well, so I didn’t plan anything before the final but I played to my strengths.”
Trupti, who first showed her promise in 1999 with her triumph in the junior nationals, has had some success at the international level. A bronze-medallist in the team event at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, she climbed the top of the podium at the Bahrain Open (2007 and 2008), South African Open (2006) and Czech Open (2009).

Family support
The Pune-born Trupti learned the nuances of the sport from coach Vasanth Gore at the age of nine. She had good family support too, with her mother Prabha Murgunde, a State kho-kho player in her younger days, guiding her.
“I used to play many sports during childhood but when I was around nine, my mother took me to a summer camp in badminton at a school near my house. The very next year I won the State under-10 title. Seeing my talent my parents took me to Pune District Badminton Association at the age of 11. Three years later I joined PPBA in Bangalore and then my career blossomed,” said Trupti.

The guidance of Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar at the PPBA has been vital in her development. “I joined PPBA with the aim of becoming a good player. Obviously, India’s greatest shuttlers are here at the PPBA. The training I got here was world class,” said Trupti, who is married to Abhijeet Naimpally, former national shuttler from Karnataka.
Trupti felt that South East Asians dominate the game due to their better physical fitness.
“We (Indians) are on par with the Chinese and Indonesians technically but they are far better when it comes to physical strength. If we can consistently maintain good physical fitness, we can beat them.”

Trupti has now set her sights on winning a medal at this month’s SAF Games in Dhaka and the Asian Championship in Delhi in  April. “My immediate priority is to perform well at the SAF Games. Many events are coming up this year, including the Thomas-Uber Cup, Asian meet, CWG and the Asian Games. I just want to focus on each event and would like to stay mentally and physically fit throughout the year.”