Varun Kapur from Nikhil Kanetkar Badminton Academy (NKBA) has started 2021 on a career-high as he is now ranked World No 2 in the Under-19 Boys Singles category as world body Badminton World Federation (BWF) released the rankings on Tuesday.

Speaking about his ranking Varun said, “I am extremely elated on achieving this milestone even though I played very few tournaments in 2020 due to the pandemic and the points have been carried forward from the year 2019.”

Speaking about his journey so far Varun said “The journey has been pretty long. I started playing when I was about 5 or 6 in Kolkata. It just started as a hobby just to play some sports because I was into all types of sports. I started picking up on it. Then my coaches told me that I am good at the sport. Then I shifted to another club there to play at the state level. After getting results, I started enjoying the sport more, wanted to take it seriously and wanted to pursue it. It was then that I shifted to Pune.”

“It has been a really big change for me in the first few years, as I had to change schools, make new friends. After the performance started coming, I started setting new goals and this was one of my few goals which was to achieve a very high ranking in the world. I started working towards it two years ago and I am happy that finally, I am able to get it,” Varun added.

“My parents have been extremely supportive from the start. My father drops me for fitness, brings me to the academy also, he comes to some of the tournaments while mom always gives me moral support. She takes care of my nutrition. My mother shifted with me in 2015 first while my dad came in around 2017,” Varun said.

When quizzed about his most memorable moment on the court, Varun was quick to say “Once in Bengal when I was playing a state championship. It was the Under-13 category. I was 9 or 10 and I was playing against a top player. I was totally the underdog. I was not in favour to score even 10 points. I was playing really well. Everything I was hitting was working somehow. It was then that the crowd started cheering me. They were just sitting and watching the match initially and then the match got interesting. I lost the two games but it was one of the best matches which I have played. It was the first time that I got a feeling of a crowd and the atmosphere which pushed me to play more.”

“I would like to thank my parents, Nikhil sir, Mayank sir, Mustak sir, KSF, Kaifi Afzal, Gayatri Vartak and all my other sponsors. I would also like to thank Li-Ning for sponsoring my clothes and giving me all the equipment which I require,” Varun concluded.

Speaking on Varun’s achievement his father Rohit said “It's great to see Varun's hard work and sacrifices paying off. As parents, we have tried to support him as much as we can. It is truly rewarding to see him grow to be the person he is today and achieve what he deserves.”