Ami Ghia still remembers the day she located a badminton racquet at her home. A college pupil lower back then, Ami changed into the most effective character in her household to have picked up the sport of badminton.
Today, at the age of sixty-two years, Ghia, as soon as referred to as the undisputed “Queen” of the sport in India, while speaking over the telephone from her residence in Mumbai, said, “My parents have never even visible me playing.” The seven-time countrywide singles champion, 8-time runners up, 12-time gold medalist within the doubles and four-time champion in the combined doubles had a profession spanning over 18 years from 1970 to 1988.
Ghia’s key success was the bronze medal in ladies doubles at the 1978 Commonwealth Games with Kanwal Thakar Singh and within the 1982 Asian Games, Ami Ghia hogged the limelight via winning bronze in women’s group occasion.
Badminton changed into a type of hobby for the Commonwealth Games gold medalist in her early days. Brought up in Mumbai, Ghia visited Bombay Gymkhana each night after getting back from the faculty. “Some of my dad’s friends suggested him to send me to Gymkhana to get involved in any game for some hobby inside the nighttime so that I do not get pressured with studies,” she found out.
But Bombay Gymkhana eventually came out to be the cradle for Ghia as she graduated to one degree after the alternative. Soon she becomes within the underneath-18 class, after which she commenced playing in the senior stage. “I became going with the glide. I used to enjoy playing badminton and soon I promoted myself from Gymkhana to gambling for Bombay and from Bombay to Maharastra and finally to representing the country,” she brought.
Ghia remembers gambling with several worldwide stars at some point of her days – defeating the All England champion from South Korea inside the World Championship, her tussle on courtroom within the domestic circuit with Sujata Jain and later with Madhumita Singh Bist. Not just that, Ghia especially cherishes the time spent with Prakash Padukone. “All of us were inspired simply via watching him. We attempted to take our well-known of the sport to his trendy in the one’s days. I experience this was every other crucial, but a silent success of Prakash (Padukone),” commented Ghia who shared some fond reminiscences on the previous.
“We stood on the equal podium in 1978 with gold medals. Apart from that, we have toured together for around 10 years. I changed into fortunate to have watched his training every time the countrywide team used to exercise before any global competitions.”
The mom of boys, Ghia, quit professional badminton in 1988. “There turned into no pressure from my family to stop playing the sport. I chose to give priority to my family. But I do not have any remorse for that.”
Ghia, in recent times, watches present-day badminton on television. The top three shuttlers of America’s united states – Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Kidambi Srikanth are her favorites. She normally does not leave out looking those three gamers’ recreation and enjoys gaining knowledge of.
