They live and train separately in different cities and hardly meet each other, except during tournaments, yet their on-court chemistry is so good that it seems Bjorn Jaison and P.V. Aathish Sreenivas have been playing together for ages.
The duo created a sensation last year when they won the under-15 doubles bronze at the Asian junior badminton championships in Thailand.
Bjorn and Aathish are the latest set of players to join the illustrious list of doubles specialists from Kerala. They lived up to their billing as the favourites and won the under-17 title in the recent State junior championships at Karunagappally as well.
It was their first State title after moving to the higher age category.
Life wasn’t easy for them at the higher age-group level. After dominating opponents in the under-15 section, the pair was knocked out in the opening rounds of the first two all-India ranking tournaments they took part this year.
Change of fortunes
However, they seemed to have turned things around when they made the semifinals of the all-India ranking tournament in Lucknow earlier this month. The performance there has boosted their confidence and pair is coming to terms with dealing with the quality opposition in the higher age category.
“Everything was different in the under-17 category. The players were stronger and so were their smashes. The rallies were longer and we learnt that we have to be patient to win points. We struggled initially. We have now started analysing our opponents and we plan our strategies in consultation with our coaches,” said Bjorn as Aatish nodded in acknowledgement.
Confident
They are confident of replicating their under-15 success in the under-17 category as well. “We play similarly and know each other’s game pretty well and we cover up for each other’s weaknesses. We are confident that we will be able to carry on our good work,” they added.
While Bjorn plays singles and is the reigning under-17 champion, Aathish is a doubles specialists.
“It is tough to play both singles and doubles in tournaments and I am working on my fitness and endurance,” said Bjorn.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty are their idols and the youngsters hope to emulate the feat of their heroes one day.
