Arun Vishnu dreams big

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Arun Vishnu, the 23-year-old badminton player from Kozhikode, has achieved a lot in both national and international arena.

Not satisfied, he says he dreams big. The player, who has returned from Vienna taking part in the Austrian International Challenge, is aiming for a better performance in the Asian Badminton Championship in China in April. He also plans to improve his world ranking in doubles.

Arun has been part of the Olympics preparatory camp at Gopichand Badminton Academy, Hyderabad, for the last one year and is optimistic about improving his ranking to play in the next Commonwealth Games and subsequently in Olympics.

“I am now ranked 70 in world doubles and 61 in mixed doubles. I have to improve a lot to reach upto the top 16, and for that I have to play several internationals. Like every sports person, my dream is to play in Olympics,” he says.

“The Austrian championship was a useful international exposure for me. I and my partner, Tarun Kona, reached the quarterfinals in the doubles but lost to Austrian duo Juergen Koch and Peter Zauner. It was indeed a great game for us,” he said.

Arun, who partner with another international from Kozhikode, Aparna Balan in the mixed doubles, is ranked number one in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles in the national ranking.

Having started his career when he was 11-year-old, he was handpicked by SAI coach Ganguly Prasad from a badminton camp in Kozhikode to the SAI center, Bangalore, and has since won several national championships. From there, he was selected to the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

In the last national badminton games, he won gold in team championship, winning men and mixed doubles events. “That was a real boost for me. Winning three gold medals was really inspiring. My pairs, Tarun and Aparna Chechi, played well. It is because of their help too that I have reached so far,” said the player.

The shuttler, who admires badminton player Sanave Thomas, says he likes to play with him. “He is a skilled player and his off-court behavior is very nice. It is my long-standing wish to play with him,” said Arun.