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The Hindu : Karnataka’s quest for a home-grown National champion in badminton ended when Anup Sridhar donned the mantle that was, long ago, worn by his mentor and badminton legend Prakash Padukone. However, the search for a women’s champion is stillon. In the talented duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Nitysa Soslae, the State has a formidable pair. But when it comes to singles, the State has never had a big winner. Aparna Popat, who made Bangalore her base was a nine-time National women’s champion, but technically she is from Mumbai. There are quite a few youngsters who show a lot of promise, and the brightest among them is V. Ruth Misha, a trainee at Tata Padukone Badminton Academy. In the past two years, she has performed exceptionally well to rank as a serious contender for the women’s crown. Though she still might not be in National champion Saina Nehwal’s class, Ruth can hold her own against contemporaries such as Aditi Mutakar, Aparna Balan, Gayathri Vartak and Sikki Reddy, who are emerging as the future stars of women’s badminton in the country..

Eighteen-year-old Ruth Misha’s triumph in the All India Junior Ranking Badminton Championship at home in September was a major milestone in her career.At the start of the tournament, not many gave her much of chance against a marauding Sikki Reddy, who was on a roll. But the gritty young lass played to her potential and held her nerve to win both her games on extra points (22-20, 22-20) to emerge as the champion.

“It was good that I started as an under dog against Sikki Reddy. It worked in a positive way and I played a free game and kept my focus,” says Ruth.

Ruth’s career in badminton had quite the unusual start. As a child she was a poor eater, and a friend of her father, Vinod Kumar, advised him to put the eight-year-old Ruth into sports,…More