Newly crowned Junior National doubles champions Ritika and Simran ready for seniors' challenge

NAGPUR: The scene on the sidelines of the court was quite emotional when Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi converted their match point to become the Under-19 junior national champions at Rajahmundry last month.
Both Ritika (Nagpur) and Simran (Thane) and their parents were shedding tears of joy. They were ecstatic as the national champion tag had been eluding them for the last four-five years in various sub-junior and junior national championships.And finally when they achieved it, they just could not believe themselves.
Technically, it was the last chance for Ritika and Simran to claim the national junior crown and they did it in style, and just in the nick of the time, on December 30, a day before they graduated to the senior category.
In a pulsating U-19 girls doubles final, Ritika and Simran stunned defending champions Tanisha Crasto (Goa) and Aditi Bhatt (Uttrakhand) 21-14, 20-22, 21-18 to clinch the title at the 44th Junior National Championship at Rajahmundry.
In a marathon summit clash that lasted for an hour and 17 minutes, the Maharashtra duo avenged their loss to the same opponents in the 2018 Nationals with a hard-fought win.
The junior national title was the much-needed tonic as they begin their journey in the much more competitive world of seniors. Experts believe that it is an ideal launch-pad on which they can build their career in a big way.
Currently ranked India No. 3 in the women’s doubles, Ritika and Simran are all set to break into the national senior side soon. The pair above them in the Badminton Association of India (BAI) rankings -- K Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam -- were just selected to represent the country in the Badminton Asian Team Championships, which will be held at Manila, Philippines, from February 11 to 16.
The talented 18-year-old duo has been performing brilliantly for the last couple of years in the All India Senior Ranking tournaments while they were still playing U-19 category, which helped them to reach the No. 3 rankings.
The world ranking of Ritika and Simran is also very impressive. By playing just a handful of international tournaments, they have reached the career-best world ranking of 103. Only six Indian pairs are ahead of them in the world rankings. Experienced campaigners Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy are the best Indian women’s doubles pair with a ranking of 30.
Last year was perhaps the best for Ritika and Simran. They not only dominated the state and national level tournaments, they also stamped their authority in the international competitions. They won their maiden overseas seniors title by claiming Egypt International and did quite well in the India Open, Hyderabad Open and India International Challenge. But their best performance of 2019 was reaching the quarterfinal of the Syed Modi International Championship at Lucknow.
Senior city coach Kiran Makode, who was the coach of Maharashtra and sat for the match at Rajahmundry, praised the duo for their determination and will power.
“They played outstanding badminton throughout the junior nationals. Despite not being fully fit, since Simran was recovering from dengue, they showed a lot of character in pulling in the trophy. I think they can do well in the seniors too provided they train together regularly,” said Makode.
Ritika trains under Ajay Dayal and Robin Simon at Nagpur, while Simran is a member of the Thane Academy.
Chief coach of Thane Academy Shrikant Vad also echoed Makode’s views. “They need to practice under one roof where there is good guidance and lot of sparring. If this happens, their future is bright,” said Shrikant Vad.
“I feel both Simran and Ritika are very talented players. Ritika is strong in the fore court whereas Simran can play hard from the back, thus playing a good supporting role to each other. For the future, if they want to succeed at the international level, they will have to become strong mentally as well as physically,” said Shrikant Vad.