Anmol Kharb, the fearlessly free-hitting shuttler who came to prominence at 16, helped India win Asian team gold at 17, slumped in form at 18, is back where she belongs – taking down higher ranked opponents with her rangy strokes played from impossibly imbalanced positions.
At the Hylo Open at Saarbrucken, Germany, the 19-year-old resurfaced to defeat Danish World No 12 Line Christophersen in a stunning come from behind fightback, as she twice finished strongly after trailing post losing the opening set. This is the biggest win of her career – till now.
At 18-20 down, other shoulders would’ve slumped. But not the Haryanvi who always had the court coverage and struck some of the cleanest strokes, but has now shot up a few inches to find even greater range as she picks shuttles early and gets waspish sting on her shots even when she connects with the frame. It helps her retrieve without losing the crunch on the shots. The non-stop retrieving literally helped her outlast the Danish 26-year-old, who ceded at least 80 percent of her points from errors, sending the shuttle wide or long.
Anmol managed to lend speed to these exchanges, which put immense pressure on the Dane’s precision when going for the lines.
Having dropped the first, Anmol was in control of the second, and was moving the shuttle around expertly, navigating a tricky endgame when Christophersen came upto within 16-17 of her lead. But the Indian who won the National crown at 16 and later helped India win the Asian Women’s team gold three years ago, showed good temperament to see the finish through.
Anmol’s game might lack in a 400+kph smash, but her court sense is elite. Her 53rd rank was more a result of her prioritising academics for a year, than some massive lacunae in her game. She hits freely, understands court geography, angles and has clearly built up stamina to last long rallies. She has overhead drops that came in handy especially in the decider. But a bulk of her deception happens at the net and on forehand lifts from net-level that she pops up with wristy elan. Christophersen kept missing the sideline, and spraying her smash out of frustration as the Indian levelled the sets.
In the decider, till 15-17 down, there was no indication of Anmol having the upper hand. The Dane found winners though the Indian was snapping at her heels. Christophersen once more erred wide and into the net, as Anmol saved the two match points from 18-20.
A net tumble was picked inches off the floor, but the lift was so impressive skying high that the Dane’s smash landed in the net. She manouvred the shuttle at the net with finesse and even scythed one acute and cross leaving the Dane stranded as she took a 21-20 third match point in her stride. She may not have Tanvi Sharma’s strokemaking abilities, but Anmol reads the game as well as Tanvi and has a stronger net than most of the new bunch. She’s always been fearless in closing out, and she finally got her two pearls in a string to seal the match at 25-23 for a Top 15 scalp.
Good results from women’s singles keep streaming in, and she will battle it out with Unnati Hooda in the quarters, even as PV Sindhu plays Amalie Schulz in the Super 500.