The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Chaliha 2.0: Shorter swing, more patience among key changes
NOZOMI OKUHARA, Michelle Li and now Beiwen Zhang. They might all not be in their prime, but outlasting their gritty, pickled in experience games takes serious belief, and 24-year-old Ashmita Chaliha seems to have overcome her mental blocks to start pebbling back these wins to bring back home every tournament now. On Thursday at the Malaysia Masters, the Assamese notched her biggest scalp as she beat World No 10 Beiwen Zhang, 21-19, 16-12, 21-12 in 43 minutes to enter the Super 500 quarterfinals.
Chaliha had come to prominence at the 2019 Guwahati Nationals where her attacking southpaw play had impressed the Danish legend Morten Frost who was in attendance. Invited to train at the Padukone Academy in Bangalore, Chaliha couldn't stay consistent, and her career dawdled for a fair few seasons. She was error-prone and looked casual on the court, when opponents retrieved her endlessly. On the brink of being given up on, Chaliha has resurrected hopes with technical changes.
Her list of scalps is impressive because she has turned 180 from being recklessly attacking to patient and consistent. Coach Umendra Rana got working on her grip and follow through, and ensured she wasn't slicing the shuttle too much at point of contact two years ago, but results are trickling in only now. For curtailing her exaggerated, exuberant, long backswing was eating into her reaction times, and that took forever to sort out.
"She was already explosive and had strokes. But that long swing meant she was always late to get into position under the shuttle. We shortened the swing," Rana says. Against Beiwen, the court conditions had been tricky with a lot of drift. Chaliha pressed the pedal at 17-17 in the opener, and took the first. But typical net-errors cost her a straight sets win, as the ethnically Chinese American national, pulled back the second. But Chaliha's choice of strokes was on point on the day.
It's what helped her start the decider intelligently, and the Indian did well to push the pace at the start of the third. The manner of her grabbing the lead to go 11-4 up with confident strokeplay offered a window into what the talented player is capable of. That she just kept on going, to race through the decider was down to hugely improved reserves of endurance and physical conditioning. She had led 8-3 against the in-form Japanese Aya Ohori but ceded the advantage. In Malaysia, she made no mistakes.
Chaliha's inconsistency has caused so much clucking of frustration at wasted talent in the past but she has struck an impressive rhythm where mistakes are nearly halved now. She can still hit wildly. But the follow up introspection happens immediately, and she intercepts strokes much quicker now.
"When she can hit within bounds, she puts real pressure on opponents in a rally, so consistency has made her effective. She is also not hesitating to play shots against big players," Rana says of a hugely talented leftie known for free flowing strokes, but who was shy and scared of mistakes to unfurl them. Academy senior coach Vimal Kumar reckons the Okuhara win at the Asian team event where she wrapped up India's gold was the turnaround.
Known for her jump smashes and chunky hitting from the back, Chaliha can get even better, and that will be tested against Chinese Zhang Yi Man on Friday. China's entire second string is in attendance at the Axiata Arena, taking 4 of 8 quarterfinal spots, and it will be interesting to see if PV Sindhu can get past their top player Han Yue, and if Ashmita can cause a flutter of her own.
While Chaliha is that rare Indian who can match the world’s top names in pace and the punch from the back, it is at the net where her diffidence and intro version has been most pronounced. Ran a says she has great anticipation at the net, and Vimal gushes about the deception and variations at the forecourt. But watch any complete match of her's and Chaliha seems to be wary of engaging opponents at the forecourt, though she has a decent ly honed dribble. how she manages to be flashy and shy at the same time, is a mystery.
"She tries to play difficult, clever shots at the net all the time. So we had Umendra work on asking her to be more choosy and play sequences at the net," Vimal says. Against the top players, the net is where dominance is established. But Chaliha, who can go into a shell if she makes too many errors, will need to find her confidence. "She has the speed, power, sharpness and finishing of a Top 20 player. But belief is missing," says Vimal.
Ashmita Chaliha's talent was never in doubt and Frost had predicted great things for her, as she made Sindhu sweat that day five years ago. But the talent has had to be chiseled over countless repetitions as she begins to hit consistency needed on the circuit. Most importantly, Chaliha has tasted victories now, and loves them. Her box of ambitions is ready to explode.