Indian women's team scripted history as they clinched theirmaiden gold medal in the recently concluded Asian Team Badminton Championships 2024 on Sunday, January 18. India defeated Thailand with a scoreline of 3-2 in the Final of the tournament.
India women had an impressive run throughout the tournament, defeating China, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand. PV Sindhu and the doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand gave India an early lead before China levelled the score 2-2 to move the match into decider.
In the decider, the 17-year-old stunned everyone with her dominating performance against Pornpicha Choeikeewong in the third singles that helped clinched India clinched historic gold medal. The young prodigy is none other than Anmol Kharb.
She was one of the instrumental players in India women's successful campaign at Asian Team Badminton Championship. Interestingly, the recently concluded tournament was Anmol's first major international outing of her career. Nonetheless, Anmol Kharb displayed her exceptional skills throughout the tournament.
Who is Anmol Kharb?
Anmol Kharb hails from Faridabad in Uttar Pradesh and started playing badminton at the age of six. Anmol was in 2007, a year after young Saina Nehwal clinched her first U19 national title.
She picked interest in badminton after getting inspired by her brother Hardik and veteran Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal. Anmol tried her hands at badminton while studying at Dayanand Public School in Faridabad.
Anmol Kharb was shifting his training from Faridabad to Noida, where she joined at Sunrise Shuttlers Academy. Her mother, Rajbala Kharb has been every supportive in Anmol's badminton journey. Anmol Kharb was taken under the wings of coach Kusumm Singh at the academy in Noida.
Anmol Kharb's rise to the top
Anmol Kharb made her first appearance at nationals in 2018 by participating in U17 Sub-Junior Nationals at Bhubaneshwar, where she ended up as runner-up after losing in the final. In 2019, she won her maiden national title by winning the U-17 All India Ranking at Hyderabad.
In 2020, Anmol Kharb continued to shine at national level at U-17 National titles in both singles and doubles. In 2022, the youngster did well at international stage, reaching the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian Junior Championships in Thailand.
In 2023, Anmol Kharb shot into the limelight when she clinched her first senior national badminton title in Guwahati, Assam. She outplayed Tanvi Khanna in the final to become the national badminton champion.
Anmol Kharb made her arrival at the international stage by playing an instrumental role in helping India women win the maiden gold medal at the recently concluded Badminton Asia Team Championship. The rising star played three singles matches and won all of them. Interestingly, all three came in the decider.
Currently, Anmol Kharb is currently U19 No.1 in the Badminton Association of India (BAI) rankings. Given her performance in the BATC 2024, Anmol is expected to make strides at senior level.
