Gayathri mantra now on International courts

Hyderabad: Gayathri is following in the footsteps of her famed father Pullela Gopichand and mother PVV Lakshmi. The 14-year-old daughter of this famous badminton couple took a small but significant step towards the bigger arena when she bagged a double in the Pembangunam Jaya Raya International Junior Grand Prix tournament at Jakarta in Indonesia on Sunday.

The ninth class student of Glendale Academy, defeated her doubles partner Samiya Imad Farooqui 21-11,18-21,21-16, the second all-Indian final on the day along with the Sai Praneeth-Kidambi Srikanth contest in Singapore Open, to bag the under-15 girls singles title. Gayathri completed the grand double when



she and Samiya outplayed Kelly Larisa and Shelandry Vyola of Indonesia 21-17, 21-15 to capture the girls doubles crown.

“I’m very happy win the titles,” said a shy Gayathri before handing over cell phone to her mother Lakshmi, who had accompanied her daughter to Jakarta.

Lakshmi said this was Gayathri’s third international title in the junior section. She had earlier won the under-15 doubles titles in the 2015 (with Vaishnavi) and 2016 (with Samiya) Junior Asian Badminton Championship titles. “But for the first time she won the singles title also. It is a good morale boosting title for my daughter,” said Lakshmi.