As BOSM draws near, the BOSM English Press had the opportunity to sit down with Anagha Sharma, the Captain of the girls’ badminton team, for a chat about the team’s preparation for the upcoming sports fest.

Anagha mentioned that the team had been divided into three squads—BITS Pilani A, B, and C—according to their expertise in the sport. She added that she had put herself in Team B to accommodate the national and state-level players in Team A. The formats scheduled included singles, doubles, ‘reverse singles’, and mixed doubles with the men’s team.

Anagha described a typical day as a player as waking up at dawn, taking rounds of the GymG grounds, heading to their classes, and later coming to the Students’ Activities Centre (SAC) in the evening for on-court training. They played practice matches with different players, and worked with their coach, who had arrived a month earlier from a sports academy in Udaipur. He had guided selections and also suggested suitable doubles pairings.

She admitted to the practice hours being hectic, with issues cropping up occasionally. Although illnesses and injuries sometimes disrupted the schedule, players recovered within a few days and returned to the court. 

Anagha explained that despite their preparation, they faced stiff competition from the Delhi University circuit, which had highly experienced athletes and benefited from a sports quota. When asked about who the team considered to be their biggest rivals, she spoke of Hansraj College, against whom they had lost ‘terribly’ last BOSM; albeit with enjoyable matches. With the team having since improved its game, they were looking forward to a rematch, she added. Additionally, after the upcoming InterBITS, the team hoped to embark on some outstation matches at institutes such as Thapar Institute, Delhi University colleges, and the IITs.

Anagha further explained that recruitments went well this year, with an unexpectedly high turnout. To expand the team, 5 girls had been recruited. In the previous BOSM, Team A had reached the finals and secured silver, while Team B had reached the semi-finals. Although the target for this year would be to secure gold, she emphasised that her larger priority as Captain had been to have a well-bonded team with approachable seniors—something she had felt lacking in her first year.

Anagha reflected that she had been able to handle the weight of captaincy with academics as her department, PCrA—that she was the CoStAAn of—had yet to commence its operations. She expressed her gratitude to the team’s Vice-Captain and to her seniors. She remarked that the badminton teams did not have courts last year on campus due to the renovations at SAC, and thanked the institute and SAC staff for the now revamped courts and their assistance.