Ashwini Ponnappa has been around for a long while now but the 34-year-old has no plans of slowing down. Preparing for her third Olympics in a sport as demanding as badminton can be gruelling. To do so in doubles, with a partner almost 15 years younger, is unheard of. Ashwini isn’t bothered.
“There is no Olympic medal yet, it’s a dream to be there and I am grateful that I have an opportunity to give it a shot at this point of my career. (But) there are quite a few (empty) slots that can be filled (in the medal cabinet),” she said in an interaction with The Hindu on Friday, making it clear that retirement was not on her mind any time soon.
Ashwini missed the Tokyo Olympics but with Tanisha Crasto, is currently the highest-ranked Indian women’s doubles pair in the world and on top of the race to the World Tour Finals.
