CHENGDU: India might be missing several senior stars in the Uber Cup Finals but singles teen sensation Anmol Kharb (pic) is determined to prove that they are no pushovers.
India made the bold move to leave out the likes of 2019 singles world champion P. V. Sindhu, and top doubles pairs Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto to give a group of youngsters the opportunity to impress.
The 17-year-old Anmol and her teammates have wasted no time to take the chance given to them and have booked their spot in the quarter-finals after beating both Singapore and Canada 4-1 in their first two Group A matches.
Anmol, who played an important role in India’s historic Asia Team Championships triumph this year, is relishing playing in the Uber Cup for the first time and is happy to see her team make it to the last eight.
“My seniors like Sindhu and Ashwini are focusing on their preparations for the Olympics and we are really happy that our coaches have trusted us to play in the team meet,” said Anmol, who like much of her teammates is making her debut in the tournament.
“It’s a risky move to select a young team for such a big tournament and we want to make our country proud.
“This is the biggest tournament for me and my teammates so far and we are really excited.
“Our aim was to reach the knockout stages first and we are really happy that we managed to do this.
“If everyone in the team plays their best, we can go further,” added Anmol.
India face a tough task next against homesters China and Anmol wants the team to continue playing without fear.
She was part of the team that memorably stunned China 3-2 in the group stage in the Asia team meet but acknowledged that it will be a different ball game this time around as the home team will be at full strength.
“It looks more favourable to China this time as they have all their top players while we don’t. We’ll go all out. We might be young but we have no fear.”
