<p>Unnati Hooda is a girl in a hurry. The desire to learn everything there is to the sport without wasting a minute is apparent.</p>.<p>“Can we please do this quickly? Because I have to get back to practice,” she requests politely after a 5-minute telephonic conversation. </p>.<p>Maybe this sense of urgency to achieve big things was the reason behind Unnati becoming the youngest Indian badminton player, at 14 years, to win a Super 100 BWF World Tour title in January last year. </p>.<p>Although, the immediate spotlight and heightened expectations from people that came after her win at the Odisha Open 2022 was something she wasn’t yet ready for, the 15-year-old learnt to handle the sudden attention as instantly. </p>.<p>“Before that (the win in Odisha) nobody knew me so I could play freely,” begins the teen from Rohtak. “Win or lose, nothing mattered. Now there is some pressure to perform. But it’s not that pressure hai toh bandha gandha hi keltha hai (pressure doesn’t mean one is sure to under-perform). Pressure is not always negative. It also brings the best out of us.” </p>.<p>This attitude was on full display at the Yonex-Sunrise 46th Inter-State Inter-Zonal Badminton Championships held in Bengaluru last week when Unnati, dubbed the next big hope of Indian badminton, led Haryana to women’s team gold. </p>.<p>With all eyes on the youngster in the individual event, Unnati fell short when she was stunned by unseeded Rakshitha Sree S of Telangana in a three-game semifinal. </p>.<p>“No worries,” she shrugs it off. “I got to learn a lot even if I lost. I was actually playing better than her but too many unforced errors cost me the match.” </p>.<p>Again, she is in a hurry to move on quickly without dwelling on a heart-breaking loss. For now, Unnati has her complete focus on the Junior World Championships starting from September 25 in the USA. She will be spearheading the girls’ team in the 24-member Indian contingent. </p>.<p>“I want to perform well in the tournament and hopefully win a medal. After that, I will be going to Dubai for a Super 100 event. Then there is the Odisha Open again and a Super 100 event in Guwahati and a few other international competitions,” she says in one breath. </p>.<p>It is difficult to ignore the excitement in Unnati’s voice when she talks about all the tournaments lined-up in the rest of her year’s playing calendar. And one can sense the young girl’s eagerness to compete in them already. </p>.<p>“After that, I will focus on seniors only,” she claims before dashing off to training with a hurried response of ‘Okay. Thank you. Bye.’ </p>
<p>Unnati Hooda is a girl in a hurry. The desire to learn everything there is to the sport without wasting a minute is apparent.</p>.<p>“Can we please do this quickly? Because I have to get back to practice,” she requests politely after a 5-minute telephonic conversation. </p>.<p>Maybe this sense of urgency to achieve big things was the reason behind Unnati becoming the youngest Indian badminton player, at 14 years, to win a Super 100 BWF World Tour title in January last year. </p>.<p>Although, the immediate spotlight and heightened expectations from people that came after her win at the Odisha Open 2022 was something she wasn’t yet ready for, the 15-year-old learnt to handle the sudden attention as instantly. </p>.<p>“Before that (the win in Odisha) nobody knew me so I could play freely,” begins the teen from Rohtak. “Win or lose, nothing mattered. Now there is some pressure to perform. But it’s not that pressure hai toh bandha gandha hi keltha hai (pressure doesn’t mean one is sure to under-perform). Pressure is not always negative. It also brings the best out of us.” </p>.<p>This attitude was on full display at the Yonex-Sunrise 46th Inter-State Inter-Zonal Badminton Championships held in Bengaluru last week when Unnati, dubbed the next big hope of Indian badminton, led Haryana to women’s team gold. </p>.<p>With all eyes on the youngster in the individual event, Unnati fell short when she was stunned by unseeded Rakshitha Sree S of Telangana in a three-game semifinal. </p>.<p>“No worries,” she shrugs it off. “I got to learn a lot even if I lost. I was actually playing better than her but too many unforced errors cost me the match.” </p>.<p>Again, she is in a hurry to move on quickly without dwelling on a heart-breaking loss. For now, Unnati has her complete focus on the Junior World Championships starting from September 25 in the USA. She will be spearheading the girls’ team in the 24-member Indian contingent. </p>.<p>“I want to perform well in the tournament and hopefully win a medal. After that, I will be going to Dubai for a Super 100 event. Then there is the Odisha Open again and a Super 100 event in Guwahati and a few other international competitions,” she says in one breath. </p>.<p>It is difficult to ignore the excitement in Unnati’s voice when she talks about all the tournaments lined-up in the rest of her year’s playing calendar. And one can sense the young girl’s eagerness to compete in them already. </p>.<p>“After that, I will focus on seniors only,” she claims before dashing off to training with a hurried response of ‘Okay. Thank you. Bye.’ </p>