Typically, sport is a habit that has to be cultivated from a very young age, when the mind and body are still unencumbered and ripe to pick up on the nuances and technicalities that a particular sport requires. The discipline, the passion and the acclimatisation required can be driven in with relative ease in the case of young ones.
Then there are biological constraints that set in with the test of time which strengthen the case for sport from an early stage.
But, the beauty of sport is that it has the ability to produce late bloomers. The element of uncertainty and the possibility of a triumph however late it might be in a game, could also be transposed to real life.
So in sports as in life, ‘now’ is regarded as good a point to start as back then and some people serve as examples for a rather easily thrown around phrase: ‘Better late than never’.
Himani Punia, who bagged the gold in 40+ women’s singles and the silver in 40+ women’s doubles in the Yonex Sunrise 45th Indian Masters (veteran) National Badminton Championships, is one such testament to the fact that it is never too late to pick up a sport.
Born and brought up in Jaipur, an Alumna of Maharani Gayatri Devi School, Punia discovered her love for what serves her professionally now, at a rather late stage than would be typically imaginable.
“I started playing at 30, so it has been about 10 years. But I did not play badminton as a child. I have always been into sports I used to be an equestrian; I love horse riding. I learnt it as a child. But, never competed as such,” Punia begins.
“But, in badminton, my first coaching class was at 30. And I started competing at the national level at 35, as that is when the veteran category starts”.
“I started playing for fun, playing badminton as a hobby with a few friends at a local club in Jaipur, then I started improving steadily and the interest in the game increase and I wanted to take it up professionally.”
“I fell in love with the sport and worked very hard in learning the game. I wake up with sore muscles and aches and pains everywhere. This sport is hard on your body as you age more and more.”
“But I just love the sport so much that I am willing to take the pain.”
With a stint of lawn tennis training in her arsenal, from her days of schooling, Punia was shrewd to point out the differences between the two racquet sports and shared how she adapted to her new love by taking away positives from tennis, that could serve her well going forward, but also reflected the things she had to unlearn to survive the switch.
“I used to play a bit of tennis back in school, and when I got into badminton there were a couple of things for me to unlearn as you use your whole arm while playing tennis but the wrist is more crucial for badminton. I tend to use my entire arm initially and had to get into the habit of using my wrist more,” she explained.
“Certain things did feel similar though, such as the hand-eye coordination.”
“It is very hard to unlearn actually. I still tend to use my entire arm a lot of times, but I keep telling myself consciously to use my wrist.”
Equipped with a master’s degree in hotel management from a university in Brig, Switzerland, Punia worked with the Oberoi group of hotels in Delhi for a bit before quitting corporate life to focus on badminton.
“I did not feel the push work in a corporate environment. I just wanted to play badminton, so I quit and concentrated on improving my game.”
“I got inspired to take up the sport professionally when I moved to Gurgaon, and we have an indoor court within my complex and I used to play with my friends”, she explained.
“We got in a coach, Gaurav Kapoor, who has played nationals, for the kids. He spotted my game and pushed me to compete. I had my doubts because I was 30 and wasn’t sure I could keep pace with the young girls in the game. But he believed in me and pushed me.”
“The first time I played a state championship, I wasn’t yet 35 and couldn’t play the senior category. So, I was clubbed in the general category, where I was the only 30-year-old woman there and the rest were all 18,29,20 odd-years-old. It was tough to keep up with them, but it was my first experience in the states,” Punia reflected on her early outings on the court.
“I was waiting to turn 35 so that I could compete with people my own age.”
Her belief would come to fruition on the 23rd of March 2023 as Punia bagged the gold in Goa.
“He told me, ‘One day you will win a gold’, and it happened over the weekend,” she said with glee.
Picking it up from kids
Mum of an 11-year-old son, Punia reflected on the beauty of watching kids play and picking up on stuff the unadulterated minds excel at.
“I started training with the kids, so what I learnt from them was the uninhibited interest in the game and that willingness to learn,” she said.
“If they learn a drop shot one day, they’d like to practice it till they get it right.”
“I was inspired, and I think I get along better with kids than people my own age”, she joked.
“Kids have that glitter in their eyes, the eagerness to learn and when they get it right, they get excited.”
“My son is 11 now, he also plays, he’s been taking classes and he’s getting good at it. Right now, I can beat him. But he gives a good fight and maybe in a couple of years, he’d be able to beat me”, she said in a jovial tone.
Multiple sports require the functioning of different muscle groups and various types of abilities. These requirements might vary based on the nuances or the technicality of the sport itself, but one thing that would appear in conjunction with most sports is discipline.
And breaks, forced or otherwise, could hinder the set routine one needs to excel in sports. Backslides or pauses aren’t uncommon in the world of sports, but what defines a career is the manner in which the athlete decides to react to it.
“I had a two-year break in between as I had my son. I got back into the game after the delivery. I worked hard to get fit and dive back into the game.”
“It is difficult getting back into something after a break as your body isn’t the same. You also get a little rough around the edges because you haven’t played for a while,” Punia explained.
“It was hard, but I was willing to put the effort into gaining back my fitness and game.”
“There have been times when my maid used to take my son around for a stroll and I’d sneak in that half an hour or one hour to practice and I’d run back to him quickly. It was hard when he was a baby, but then as he grew up and developed an interest in the game. Now both of us enjoy the sport and he accompanies me to all of my tournaments,” said the 43-year-old.
“My son and I train under the same coach, we train at the same time, but at different levels at the moment.”
Recover is as crucial to development as training. This notion might probably take some time to settle in for athletes starting out in their trade as youngsters, due to the virtues of blissful ignorance and the biological concepts of a higher rate of healing and recovery. But becomes rather painfully evident as one grows older.
“I train twice a day. I do a lot of shuttle drills in the morning such as smashes and tosses. And I do a lot of agility and footwork training in addition to that.”
“And I alternate between strength training and running in the evening.”
“Noons are for recovery. I relax a bit and take it easy. I need to rest properly so that I’m prepared for the next session of exercises, so I try to get in a nap at noon,” Punia shared her training regime.
“As kids, you do not require as much rest, but as you grow older, your body demands that rest. Otherwise, you just get burnt out over time,” she emphasised.
Punia is part of the Indian contingent participating in the BWF World Senior Badminton Championships, 2023 in Jeonju, South Korea, slated to take place in September.
And she is certain to carry her experience from her last overseas tournament in Spain into the contest in Jeonju.
“I had been to Huelva to play the 2021 World Masters in Spain. It was just post-COVID and there weren’t that many countries that were in competition. It wasn’t the ideal situation to travel considering the times. Also, we were in a bubble,” she recollected.
“I played the women’s doubles there. We did not get too far in that tournament as we lost to South Korea, who were a very strong team. But I hope for better luck this time around.”
“You have to learn the defeats in your stride, cause otherwise, you’re not a complete sportsperson. Losing happens more than winning,” Punia concluded.
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