Bangalore
This is a short account of my first sporting event after Covid 19 struck. The VTU badminton tournament is always the first event in the VTU Sports Calendar. And so, this year began in October 2021, I had little or rather no hope sports would resume, but to my surprise, sports events were planned to be conducted as usual.
The Physical Education Director informed us that the VTU South Zone Badminton Tournament (All the colleges belonging to the south of Bangalore are eligible to take part in this tournament), was to be conducted on 15th-16th November, and so preparation began in the first week of November. The first was to select new recruits to the team and then practice hard.
For girls, every match is played as best of 3, consisting of singles, doubles, and reverse singles. The team to win 2 of the 3 is declared the winner. At an engineering college, it is fairly difficult to find girls who pursue a sport, and even if they do, very few are willing to play on the team. For me, being on the team is a matter of pride and satisfaction. I got into the badminton team in my first year. Once we were done with the selections, practice week began.
We were ready on the 15th of November 2021, to play the VTU Bangalore South Zonal Tournament. I was a little apprehensive about my knees and made sure to play with caution. We were the winners of the previous edition and were confident that we could reproduce the same results even this year. We won the first 2 rounds with ease, the semi-finals were scheduled for the next day.
On 16th November 2021, we won the semi-finals, which meant going to Mysore to play the inter-zonal badminton tournament, as we were the finalists of our zone! 😃
Nonetheless, winning the tournament was our ultimate goal. The final was a tough match. I played the first singles and won it, the nerves made my heart race like never before. The next was the doubles match, my teammates played this, and they won too!
So 2–0 it was, and we were the winners.
Mysore
The Inter-zonal tournament was scheduled for the 19th and 20th of November 2021. The tournament served as a good refreshing break from my busy schedule. I wanted to play my best and have a lot of fun with the team. 16 teams from all over Karnataka assembled at Mysore. The competition was at another level, but sadly, we weren't able to make it past the first round.
Some Reflections
- Accepting failure and success has become so much easier for me since I play sport
- I have learned the importance of respecting others and not being very judgmental
- Playing sport is very liberating for me, of course, I care about winning, but it isn't the ultimate thing, it has helped me transition into a double-thinker. I find the idea of being a double-thinker very interesting. This attitude is applicable to many aspects of my life and has definitely made me a better person.
- And lastly, sport has taught me to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle, this is something all of us should seriously consider!