Minutes after an intense hour long practice session at Pitampura sports complex,23-year-old Mohita Sahdev is completely drained. Capitals premier shuttler,who has the reputation as one of the fittest players on the circuit,is keen to iron out her flaws. Defensively strong,her weakness lies in a lack of offense. The intense training sessions are to work on her speed. After having started the year with a semi-final finish in the doubles event at the senior badminton Nationals,Mohita now says she hopes to keep the momentum going. Her next outing will be in at the end of January in a prize money tournament in Valsad,Gujarat and that will be followed up by the badminton events beginning 16 th February in the National Games in Ranchi. While the shuttler hasnt lost a single match in the capitals circuit over the last four years,Mohita hasnt really made her mark in the national category at least in the singles with routine exits in the pre-quarters. However as her semi-final spot in the Nationals indicate,she isnt doing too badly in the doubles event. In the Valsad tournament Mohita and her partner Meenakshi Nair are seeded 3rd . Their draw is relatively easy until the semis- when they will probably face the top seeds- and national champions Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant. Despite the success,Mohita still considers singles an integral part of her game. I learn a lot of techniques and strategies while playing doubles,but at the same time I will always continue to play singles. The final year MA student from Jamia,describes the national games in Ranchi as a huge opportunity. They were supposed to be held last year,but were postponed. At the National Games,players do not compete for their employers like PSPB so the competition is much more fair. Meenakshi and I are both from Delhi so the good thing is that we will still be partnered together in Ranchi. That doesnt really mean that it is an easy tournament for us because Aparna Balan will team up with PC Thulasi and Prajakta also has a lot of good players from Andhra Pradesh itself,to pair with.
