Sixteen-year-old K. Sathis Kumar is all set to leave for Myanmar to participate in the Asian Badminton Championship to be held between October 4 and 8. He is excited as this is the first time he will be trying his luck at international level.

For Sathis, it was love at first sight with badminton. He started developing interest in the game when he saw his cousin A. Arun Kumar (ranked No. 1 at State level and also a national level player). Satis’ parents – Karunakaran and Jayanthi – did not hesitate to relocate to Coimbatore to nourish his dreams. Immediately he was put under Venkatesh N, Arun Kumar’s coach.

”He started playing only few years back but has showed great improvement. He is performing very well at the national circuit,” says Arun Kumar.

An avid swimmer, Sathis is thankful to his coach, parents and Arun for encouraging his throughout. “Arun is my source of inspiration. My coach’s role plays a dominant role in my life. And my parents they didn’t hesitate to move to Coimbatore just for my sake,” he says.

Karunakaran and Jayanthi, who accompany Sathis to all the matches, are all praise for Venkatesh, who, they say trains their boy individually. They want their son to take up sports full time and make a career out of it. “His school (Sri Ramakrishna Matric Higher Secondary School) also encourages him a lot by giving him permission to take part in all training camps even on working days,” she remarked.

“Sathis is hardworking and he represented the district at the State level matches. It was the first time our district reached the State level. In 2015 Coimbatore bagged the first place because of him. The State team stood first at the national level championship (U-17 category), thanks to Sathis”, says Saravana Kumar, Physical Director, Sri Ramakrishna Matric School.