Former badminton player Anand Pawar has not just played at the highest level but has also regularly featured in badminton news for the various honours he has achieved around the world. Anand has represented India in the Men’s World Team Championships, World Mixed Team Championships and the Asian Badminton Championships. He has excelled in Europe, winning the Portugal International, Hungarian International, Austrian International and has also won the Scottish Open in 2010 and 2012 as well as the French Open.

In this exclusive interview with SPOGO, Anand Pawar speaks about his parents influence in taking up badminton professionally, favourite accomplishments, coaching Pune7Aces, grassroot development, overcoming challenges, the importance of mental health and future goals.

Q 1) As someone who is the son of two former international badminton players, how much of an influence did your parents have in you taking up badminton professionally?

Both my parents being former international badminton players had a huge influence on me and was one of the main reasons for me to start playing the sport as a child and taking it up as a profession eventually. My father was still competing till I was about 7-8 years old and watching him play was a real motivation for me as a child. I started playing Badminton when I was 5 years old and my mother was the one who initially got me started with the sport since my father was still competing.

Q 2) You have featured in numerous international tournaments, which one stands out as your fondest memory and your favourite accomplishment?

I would say winning the Scottish Open in 2012 would be one of my fondest memories in my career. It had been a while since I had won an international event and I was also carrying a small injury, but once I got through the first couple of rounds I felt like everything was going my way and I felt so comfortable on court. Also, reaching the semi-finals of the India Super Series in 2013 has been one of my favourite accomplishments. I beat some really good world class players on the way to the semi final including the World No. 3 at that time in the second round.

Q 3) What has been the experience like to be the assistant coach at the Pune7Aces professional badminton team?

It's been a really good learning experience for me to be a Coach with such a big franchise so early in my coaching career. I've had the opportunity to watch and learn up close with some of the world's best Badminton players like Carolina Marin, Mathias Boe, Hendra Setiawan and many such greats of the sport. Just seeing how they practice, the intensity of their training sessions and how they prepare for a match has been such a pleasure to watch. This has definitely helped me grow as a coach and learn how to train my players and how to bring the best out of them.

Q 4) According to you, what needs to be done at the grassroots to promote badminton amongst the future generations?

I think Badminton is growing really fast in the country and a lot of kids want to take up the sport but one of the main things that can have a big impact on the sport is training our coaches. We have so many academies spread out across the country but no real programs for coaches to learn more about how to bring up players from the grassroot level, teaching them the right techniques, different coaching methods etc.

Q 5) What are the various challenges that you have faced in your journey so far? How did you overcome them?

I spent a lot of time in Europe during my career (in Denmark) and one of the biggest challenges was playing tournaments without a coach. I think just having someone you trust, sitting behind the court and helping you through tough situations in a match is so important for a player and unfortunately because I was playing a lot of tournaments on my own expenditure, it was not possible to have my coach with me all the time. Injuries were also a big challenge for me as beyond a point in my career my body began to slow down and I was very prone to injuries, which is common in professional sport but I think my family played a big part in motivating me to keep pushing through my injuries and getting stronger so I'm very grateful for that.

Q 6) While badminton is a physically demanding sport, how important of a role does mental health play in competing at the highest level?

I would say mental strength is probably what decides the outcome of a match at the highest level. All players are physically strong in the current scenario and with the sport evolving so rapidly, a player's mental health and toughness is what keep them at the top of their game and find that consistency to be the best.

Q 7) What are your future goals and aspirations? How do you plan to achieve them?

We have a lot of talented players in our academy, Uday Pawar Badminton Academy in Mumbai and the challenge is to bring out the best in them. As a coach, I am learning about how to work with different players because no player is identical and needs to be coached or motivated in a different way which is definitely a challenge, but I thoroughly enjoy it and hope to help my players achieve their goals and maybe do better than I could in my career. That would probably be the most satisfying feeling for me as a coach.