Shikha Gautam
Budding Bangalore-Based badminton ace Shikha Gautam (15) is set to go places. In 2012 she was ranked #1 in the Under-15 doubles (with partner Mahima Aggarwal) and #2 in singles. Since the start of this year, she’s won four titles in the U-17 and U-19 singles and doubles categories at the Li Ning 5-star state ranking championships staged in Davangere (Karnataka). Later in August, she bested the top ten seeds in U-17 national selection tournament in Bangalore.
The only child of Rajesh Gautam, a corporate executive, and mother Deepali, a homemaker, who relocated to Bang-alore from Nasik (Maharashtra) in 2011 so that Shikha could train in the garden city’s nationally reputed Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA), this class X student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ulsoor, attributes her success to home, teacher and PPBA support. “My parents and coaches are great pillars of strength as are my school teachers who encourage me and make special arrangements for me to take missed exams. I am also grateful to Go Sports Foundation for supporting my travel and residential expenses when on tour,” acknowledges Shikha.
Fascinated by the flight of the shuttlecock in her early years, Shikha took to the courts in Nasik at age seven. “My interest in the sport deepened as I watched Saina Nehwal compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” she says. “In my first U-13 national tournament (2010), I defeated a number of seeded players to finish runners-up. The next year I was selected to represent India at the Sub-Junior Asia Badminton Championships staged in Chiba (Japan). A tough draw had me facing off with Japan’s #1 seed in the first match itself. Even though I fared poorly, my confidence rose to new levels, eventually leading to my selection to train at PPBA, which was a dream come true,” says Shikha, who has been learning the finer points of the game for the past two years under the guidance of Vimal Kumar, Asian Games bronze medallist and former national coach (2003-06). At PPBA, she also avails the services of Indonesian coach and Olympic gold medallist (doubles) Yusuf Jauhari. To date, this promising teen has won 20 medals in district, state and national level tournaments apart from winning 100 trophies.
Intent on donning India colours in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, this promising shuttler has a hard time balancing academics with badminton. “At the moment I have to concentrate on my board exams. In Plus Two even though my strength is math and science, I plan to opt for commerce which will allow me to devote more time on developing my game,” she says.
Power to your racquet!
Kruti Shah
Kruti shah (21) hit the headlines in the Mumbai media by topping the All-India Chartered Accoun-tancy (CA) final exams 2013, held in May. A commerce graduate of Narsee Monjee College, Kruti also top-scored in the first and second level CA exams — CPT (Common Proficiency Test) and IPCC (Intermediate Professional Competency Course). Over 27,556 aspirants wrote both groups of the CA finals, of whom a mere 2,764 passed.
This excellent performance is the outcome of a disciplined training regimen under the guidance of her father, Bhadresh Shah, a Mumbai-based char-tered accountant. After she graduated from Narsee Monjee last year, she followed a gruelling schedule which belies the popular notion that contem-porary youth are neither equipped nor prepared to work hard to attain career goals. “After leaving college, I joined early morning coaching classes and later attended office at S.G. Salecha & Co. where I interned as an articled clerk. This routine was followed for nine months. After completing my articleship, with five months to go before the CA finals, I followed a strict timetable and used to study in the Gyan Vihar public library, Borivali, from 8 a.m to 11 p.m, taking small breaks in between. This way I managed to set aside enough time for two revisions, and it's because I acquired a thorough grasp of concepts that I was able to top the CA finals,” Kruti recalls.
This brutal study regime has certainly paid off. In September, she was induc-ted as an associate of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Mumbai, one of the four big audit and management consultancy firms globally. Looking back, she gives all the credit to her supportive family, especially her younger sister Vidhi, also an aspiring chartered accountant. “They supported me in every possible way, exempting me from household chores and duties. I couldn’t have done it without them,” she cheerfully acknow-ledges.
Kruti plans to sign up for a postgrad degree in law and intends to utilise her CA background to acquire deeper insights into taxation laws. To the youth she offers useful advice: “Nothing is impossible if you work hard. Regardless of how tough a paper may seem, never panic. Approach it calmly with confidence.”