Indian badminton doubles player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. File Photo
Hyderabad: Doubles specialist Satwiksairaj Rankiredddy, who qualified for the men’s doubles with Chirag Shetty for the Tokyo Olympics, has sought the help of sports psychologist as part of his preparation for the July event.
The Sports Authority of India’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) approved Satwik’s request for sessions with Sports Psychologists during the 57th MOC meeting.
Divya Jain is the Head of Psychological Services for the Fortis National Mental Health Program and is also a member of the Medical Commission of the Indian Olympic Association. Satwik’s request would be done via call or video chat.
The badminton camp is being held at SAI-Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad with famous doubles Denmark player Mathias Boe in charge of the doubles core group.
The 20-year-old Satwik who has made impressive strides in world badminton, both in men’s doubles and mixed doubles (Ashwini Ponnappa), thanked the SAI for acceding to his request.
“I thought I needed the help of the sports physiologist as it will boost my confidence. There is a lot of negativity doing the rounds. A few sessions with the sports Physiologist will come in handy in the next few months and it will be part of my preparations for the Tokyo Olympics,’’ he said.
Ranked 10th in the world in the men’s doubles, Satwik added that the training with Boe has been extremely useful. “He has a very good record as a doubles player and his inputs are very useful. We can see the improvement in our game. He told us to focus on our strength,’’ he said.
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