Shuttler Anupama Upadhyaya is all of 17 years old and already at the pinnacle — she has become the world No.1 in the BWF world junior women’s rankings released earlier this month. A ward of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore, the youngster has a confident head on her shoulders, is focused on what she wants to achieve and how to go about it. Does becoming the world No.1 put her under more pressure to live up to expectations?

“No pressure at all. On the contrary, I am enjoying my game all the more. Badminton is close to my heart and that I have reached No.1 is motivating me to perform even better,” Anupama told The Telegraph from Nagpur where she was participating in the Nagpur International Championship.

Hailing from Almora in Uttarakhand, Anupama started playing the game seriously when she was nine and her first coach was DK Sen — Lakshya Sen’s father. “I played under DK Sen Sir for three years during which I became the under-13 national champion in both singles and doubles.”

Thereafter she shifted to Panchkula and started playing for Haryana under Rohit Madan and finally moved to Padukone’s academy about a year and a half back. That means she knows Lakshya well, right?

“Oh yes, I know Lakshya well and have been watching him for quite a few years now. He is extremely talented. I really like his style… his smashes and all. I keep watching him and try to pick up several things that I see him doing.”

Anupama’s idol is Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, the current women’s world No.1 – and PV Sindhu’s nemesis, leading her 16-5 in head-to-head record.

“Tai has a power and deception game – a very unique game… Also she is extremely consistent in the way she plays. Like, she starts the first set playing very fast and maintains that same speed in the third set also.

“Moreover, she is mentally very strong. I admire her game a lot.”

Anupama, a student of Class XII who studies under the Open school, says she catches up on her studies over the weekends. And for the other days, it is six-to-seven hours of practice for her. Her long-term goal? “Certainly to bring an Olympics gold home. There are two Indian men who have won individual gold medals at the quadrennial games – Abhinav Bindra (shooting) and Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw). “I certainly hope to set that balance right,” said Anupama, determinedly.

But right now, there is the BWF Junior World Championships to be held in Santander, Spain, from October 17-30. Anupama is extremely excited at the prospect of crossing swords with players from China, Japan and Korea. “It will be a tough competition and I intend to return with a medal,” she said. She feels that the current junior crop of players in the country are extremely talented.

“See, prior to me (compatriot) Tasnim Mir was the world No.1. Tasnim is a very good friend who I have known from the time we were playing U-11, and a great player.

“Unnati Hooda too is playing well. I find that the competitions in the under-17 and under-19 categories are getting tougher every day.” And that indicates that the country has a bright future in badminton, concludes Anupama.