Vijayawada's raw diamond: How 19-year-old Surya Charishma Tamiri rose without formal academy training

VIJAYAWADA: It has a unique son-of-the-soil feel — daughter, actually. An unheralded teen, with no significant victories, made a lasting impression at the Senior Nationals held in the city with her stunning exploits. Nineteen-year-old Surya Charishma Tamiri received no formal training at the academies in India's big badminton hubs in the neighbouring regions of Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

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Instead, the homegrown talent learned the nuances of the game under little-known coaches like Bhaskar and Kiran Mouli and shocked players like Unnati Hooda, Rakshitha Sree Santosh Ramraj and Tanvi Patri on her way to claiming the women's title on the same courts she trains on every day.




Consider this. While Unnati is the only Indian after Saina Nehwal to beat PV Sindhu, the 14-year-old Tanvi Patri, who trained in China, is touted as the next big shuttler from India. But all that seemed to mean little for Charishma last week as she beat Unnati in straight games in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, Charishma beat Rakshitha, who trains at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. In the final, the Vijayawada girl downed Tanvi, who won the under-15 Asian Championship gold last year and is compared to Sindhu for her style and approach.

Her cool demeanour and the way she executed her game plan have impressed the experts. One of them is DK Sen, coach and father of Lakshya Sen. “It's a good sign that a player has emerged from nowhere and from a little-known place. I'm impressed that she is executing her game plan on the court. She has a cool head and has a great future. However, to excel at the international level she needs to improve her attacking skills,” Sen said.


A senior coach told TOI that raw talent like Charishma is rare and needs to be groomed properly. “I'm shocked how someone with no formal training at a big academy can play so well. I hope BAI doesn't neglect her,” added the coach.

‘Cherry', as she is fondly called by parents, used to accompany her father to the DRMC badminton courts. Impressed by the five-year-old's skills, coach Bhaskar took her under his wing. Later, when coach Mouli joined the duo, Cherry soon began winning district and state championships before excelling at a few ranking tournaments.

But her major break came in her own backyard on Sunday. “This is something I dreamt of. Last year I lost in the quarterfinals and winning such a big title at home is like a dream come true for me,” said Charishma, adding that she is confident of doing well with better facilities.

“At the moment I have no clue about my future training. But if I get better facilities, I want to train here with my coaches,” she added.