Nagpur: When Arundhati Pantawane and Arun Vishnu started central India’s first professional badminton academy at Besa in Nagpur, little did they know they would produce a women’s doubles pair for the BWF World Championships.Last year, students of national coach Pullela Gopichand started the Arundhati Arun Badminton Academy utilising facilities of Nirmal Sports. The academy provided training to beginners, amateurs and elite professionals. Like a handful of elite shuttlers, Thane’s Simran Singhi and Kavipriya Selvam from Andhra Pradesh joined the academy.Within one year after they started playing women’s doubles together in Nagpur, the duo of Simran and Kavipriya became India No. 2 pair and on Monday they will make their BWF World Badminton Championships debut in New Delhi.Based on their podium finishes, in which Simran-Kavipriya won the Lagos International Challenge and clinched silver at the Uganda IC, the Maharashtra-AP pair qualified for the world championships. Their coach Arun Vishnu feels: “Simran-Kavipriya have a good chance.”In their debut, the Nagpur-trained pair will face Spain No. 2 duo of Nikol Carulla and Carmen Maria Jimenez. Talking with TOI, Arun said, “The No. 2 pair of India and Spain will play against each other for the first time. I expect Simran and Kavipriya to win the opening round. If they play to their potential, the duo of Simran-Kavipriya can clear the second-round hurdle too when they meet ninth-seeded Bulgarian sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva. I feel they have a good chance.”
