NEW DELHI: Anupama Upadhyaya, the national champion in badminton, said that she is aiming for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 but that "Paris is not out of her plans" as she enters her first significant international competition, the Sudirman Cup.
Sudirman Cup is a mixedteam world championship, the 18th edition of the tournament is scheduled to take place from May 14 to 21 in Suzhou, China.Anupama, who will be representing India in Women’s Singles in the prestigious tournament is also quite excited, to share a bench with two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and another senior player across the world.
“I feel super excited after being named in the Sudirman Cup squad. It’s an honour to represent the current Indian Badminton team which is en route to becoming a powerhouse. I am really excited to share the bench with Legendary two-time Olympic Medalist P.V. Sindhu,” tshe said. “It will be a great learning experience for me. I will be able to see closely not only Indian top players like Sindhu, Srikanth (Kidambi), HS Prannoy, and others but also top players from other countries like Tai Tzu Ying, Chen Yu Fei, An se Young and others carry and conduct themselves on-court as well as off-court,” she added.
As Road to Paris Olympic qualifications begin with Sudirman Cup but Anupama is taking things slow and steady and set her eyes on the 2028 Los Olympics as she wants to focus on the Challenger circuit and then move to the Super Series for the next two years. “I believe it takes at least one and a half to two years to translate results from the domestic circuit to the international circuit. So, to be realistic,
I am aiming more at Los Angeles than Paris. I would start playing this year more on the International Series and Challenge circuit and occasionally the Super 100 Series circuit,” said Anupama, who is targeting to break into Top30 of the BWF rankings by the end of the season.
