Teen triumph

At 13, she plays badminton against competitors much older than herself. "Probably the toughest match for Kareena so far has been the Girls Under-15 (U-15) singles final at the 71st Manora Open Badminton Tournament at Matunga in July where she won the title. This was against an opponent (Kalpita Sawant) who also plays district and state tournaments and against whom Kareena had lost thrice, but with the narrowest of margins,” describes Kareena’s father Homiyar Madan. "She had to overcome her mental block against Sawant to win. Each tournament and each opponent has its own peculiarities.”

Playing badminton since 2008 when she was a little over 10 years old, in February 2009 Kareena was invited to join the coaching scheme conducted at the Bombay Gymkhana under former national champion Hufrish Nariman. A year later, impressed by the girl’s progress, Nariman selected Kareena for training at the Tata Padukone Badminton Centre at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) where she is chief coach. "Learning under Nariman and her team has brought about a tremendous difference. The continuous repetition of strokes for perfection and accuracy assists in the game. Physical and strength training have been given equal weightage, leading to increase in stamina. It is an all round approach and not merely focused on stroke and game play. She is a tough disciplinarian in practice and manages to impart a solid work ethic,” believes Homiyar.

Kareena Madan: courting skills

The youngster had her first exposure to the nationals when she competed in Bangalore in July in the All India Sub Junior Major Ranking Tournament. Though she did not qualify for the main draw, Kareena and her partner Anokhi Haria made it to the third and final qualifying round in the doubles. In the singles, she bowed out in the second round. A month later, the pair were the losing semi finalists in the Girls U-15 at the Late Sou Sunila Barve Memorial Sub Junior State Selection Tournament in Poona. Fighting it out in the higher age group (U-17) at the Greater Mumbai Badminton Association District Championships, she lost to Ahilya Hardjani in the semi finals. "Kareena is cool and level headed while playing the game. She has learnt almost all the strokes required and is working on improving accuracy. Faster on court movement and increased match experience is necessary to round off as a player,” assesses the father who is a chartered accountant by profession and runs H F K Madan and Company at Fort. Kareena’s mother Nergish and older sibling Pearl complete the family’s support structure. Kareena is in the eighth standard at St Anne’s High School, Fort. The trophy cupboard at home includes a collection of cups and certificates garnered at the All Parsee Badminton Tournaments conducted by FOZAWAC (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations for Welfare and Culture), including a triple crown (Women’s doubles, Girls U-16 singles and doubles) and runner-up position in the Women’s singles at the 2011 event.

"Both Kareena and Jehan have improved tremendously and the results are showing at the district and school level. They have realized the importance of being physically very fit in today’s competitive world. However, if they want to take their game to a different level (state and national)…they have to become mentally tougher and keep up the progress,” Nariman concludes. Courting challenges is all in a day’s play.