On Thursday, Rakshitha matched the hop-smashes of Scottish Kirsty Gilmour, beating the No 25 player 21-14, 21-12 in 36 minutes at the Hylo Open, in Saarbrucken Germany.
The instructions to Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj on match eve were clear: whether she was leading 20-10 or trailing 1-20, she was to pump her fist and shout at every point she snatched. “If you don’t remind her, she plays a silent game which doesn’t make sense on the international circuit. Gopi Sir called yesterday and strictly told us to follow that – no matter what the match situation, Shout,” coach Rahul Yadav says.
Aggression was being systematically drilled into another talent on the Hyderabad courts, 8 years after PV Sindhu was taught to match her attack with voluble aggression.
On Thursday, Rakshitha matched the hop-smashes of Scottish Kirsty Gilmour, beating the No 25 player 21-14, 21-12 in 36 minutes at the Hylo Open, in Saarbrucken Germany.
It will be preposterous to make a direct comparison with Sindhu who had a World Championship bronze at 18 years. But Rakshitha’s rangy game, being honed at the Gopichand Academy, is very reminiscent of Sindhu’s.
Rakshitha has a long way to go – she is still World No 75 in badminton’s women’s singles rankings. But the tall shuttler from Tamil Nadu, just 17 at the moment, holds serious potential to go very far in her career. Kirsty is a veteran of the circuit, a pugnacious player but with hugely diminishing attacking instincts right now. Still, it was Rakshitha’s poised offense that made the contest look extremely lopsided against the 31-year-old Scotswoman.
Till two months back, the Coimbatore-born teenager, was a skilled strokemaker, but a compulsive rally player. She came mighty close to causing an upset in Vietnam on the Asian swing of mid-range tournaments, but couldn’t finish in both close sets 21-18, 23-21 against upcoming Chinese Dai Wang. Coach Gopichand knew it was time to cause a little storm.
The largely defensive player, whose court coverage is finely developed, was taught to get more attacking. “Earlier she was only about rallying. But last two months Gopi Sir has worked a lot on her attack and speed. Today the way she started and her movement against Kirsty was very good. She completely dominated with her strokes and speed,” Yadav said.
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It is expected of those who are catapulted from the Gopichand Academy into tougher circuit tournaments that they will be temperamentally sound, and physically sturdy. Rakshitha, guided by former promising junior Yadav now a coach at the Hyderabad academy, however, offered a peek into her ready-to-explode game on the international scene during the win against Gilmour.
First, there’s the economy of her movements. She plays a reasonably composed game from the backcourt, easily tracking back to the baseline, but equally adept at the forecourt lunges, but with a great radar for controlling energy-spending from the T. The striding is particularly confident and the shot selection is precise. Against Gilmour, she largely called the shots from the back.
With her power still developing, she’s not prone to slam-bang smashes yet, though capable of them. And she isn’t shy of trying the hop-smash, getting good distance from the back court. Rakshitha mixes the drops pretty well after pushing her opponent back. And she wrapped up the match with a stop-drop, a natural shot in her armoury.
Rakshitha trained in Coimbatore till age 11-12, but moved to Hyderabad subsequently, and is tipped as one of the new generation shuttlers to take the momentum of women’s singles forward.
Shivani Naik is a senior sports journalist and Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball.
Professional Profile
Role: Assistant Editor and Columnist at The Indian Express.
Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics.
Writing Style: Her work is characterized by "technical storytelling"—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides "long reads" that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium.
Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025)
Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond:
Indian Badminton's "Hulks": She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized by power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style.
PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her "sparkle" and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps.
The "Group of Death": In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals.
Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of "backhand deception" in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas.
Legacy and History: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing historical context to current Indian successes.
Notable Recent Articles
BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025)
The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025)
Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025)
Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025)
Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025)
Other Sports Interests
Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith's dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts.
You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. ... Read More
