#MeetBITSiansInSports
Our Fourth Interviewee for “Meet the BITSians in Sports” series is Sudhanshu Singhal (2007B5A3436P).
Sudhanshu is a badminton player and while at BITS, he was a part of BITS Badminton team. After graduating from BITS, he worked at AMD for couple of years. He is currently pursuing Masters in Electrical Engineering from University of Minnesota.
Enjoy reading about his interests and fitness mantras!
Name: Sudhanshu Singhal
BITS ID: 2007B5A3436P
Q1) What all sports/activities are you involved in and how did you get into playing these sports?
Sports always interests me. Therefore, I try to learn at least the basics of the sports I can. I have learnt various sports like TT, tennis, badminton, volleyball etc but badminton is my favorite one. I got into badminton in the first year of BITS. When I saw the indoor court of badminton at BITS I just loved it. I have been playing badminton regularly since then.
Q2) What do you like the most about badminton?
The good thing about badminton probably is everyone, irrespective of the skill level, can enjoy it. Just pick up a racket and a shuttle and get on the court. Also, you can see yourself improving as you spend more time on the court. This keeps you motivated to get on the court as often as you can. And frankly, it’s a lot of fun.
Q3) How does badminton help you stay healthy?
Badminton is a fast paced game and requires a lot of twist and turns. It provides really good cardio workout and strengthens your lower body. It is a game of footwork and like other such sports you need really good lower body strength. The sport also require a lot of mental discipline and thus it is also a mental training besides physical one.
Q4) How many hours do you dedicate towards your sport?
I try to play as much as I can. On an average, I play around 8-10 hrs a week.
Q5) Do you take special care of your diet?
Diet plays an important role. Good diet can prevent you from getting injured. I try NOT to eat lots of junk food and try to get as much proteins/vitamins as I can. But since I stay away from home, you can guess how successful I would be in achieving this :P.
Q6) How can someone absolutely new to badminton start playing it?(What could be a good start to get into badminton)
As I said before, the beauty of badminton is that you don’t have to know anything from the start. If you want to learn badminton just grab a partner and get on the court. If possible join a coaching class, you can get better and faster with a coach for sure but that’s not necessary. Try to have fun and watch others play (I used to spend a lot of time watching BOSM players train in my first year). As you watch others, you realize you have some skill missing and you want to learn the particular skill/shot. Then you can search the youtube or other sites for the breakdown of how to practice that skill. That’s how you learn. But most importantly, be regular.
Q7) What’s your next goal for your game?
My next goal is same as what I always had. I want to keep getting better at the sport I love. I try to play a lot of tournaments so that I can compete with new and different people. Win or lose, I show up on the court for practice. A good next goal would be playing State Level or National Level tournaments but that’s a bit hard with the job.
Q8) Any advice to the BITSian community on how to stay healthy and fit?
All I want to say is stay active. I am not a big fan of gym as it is boring for me. Instead learn different sports. You can have fun while playing and get healthy and fit at the same time. Also mind what you eat. You are what you eat so just make sure what is going inside your body is something helpful and necessary for the body 🙂
Q9) Achievements in badminton which you are proud of?
I don’t have much achievements in the sport but I would like to mention that persistence helps. As I said before, I started playing badminton in the first year of BITS. I played a lot of badminton in my first year. I got pretty good and eventually made it to BITS badminton team in the second year. That’s why I say, all you need is to be regular.
Interviewed by: Robin Garg (2007A3PS161P)