Off court friendship leads to on-court success

Lokmat News Network

Nagpur, July 31

Every year Friendship Day is being celebrated on the first Sunday of August to cherish the spirit of friendship.

Meet city's doubles specialist Ritika Thaker and her Thane partner Simran Singhi. Their off-court friendship for almost last ten years helped them excel on the badminton court . They have been playing together for last ten years (probably the longest-serving doubles pair in the country), saw many ups and downs, enjoyed together victories, and also faced defeats but their friendship is continued as usual.

Although both live in different cities and meet with each other only in the tournaments, their friendship bond is forever. Talking about their friendship Ritika, a second-year student said, “ On badminton court, we are partners for a long time and off-court we are also good friends. In fact this friendship bond always helps us on the court to excel”, she said.

Ritika who has won several state and national titles with Simran said, “ When I was playing in one under-10 tournament, Simran asked me can we play together in doubles? I accepted her proposal and then we never looked back as our friendship gradually prosper”.

Ritika said although they live in different cities it has never become handicap for them. They have good coordination and understanding between them. “ We constantly remain in touch with each other even in off season and share our experiences of our daily practice on phone. Therefore living in different cities has never become an issue between us”.

It is said that the 'A friend in need is a friend indeed. This saying is rightly applied to this doubles pair. “ We both enjoy the success and also stood with each other in failures. In case of defeat on the court, we always motivate each other. In fact, as true friends we have asked each other to point out the mistakes so that it would not be repeated in future and I think that is the mantra of our success”, Said Ritika.

Ritika's parter Simran has echoed the same views on friendship. “ Ritika has been my close friend for a long time. In fact, she is just like family member. Our off-court friendship is the strong point between us and it gives us lot of success. As we enjoy success together we never blame each other for the failures. There is no scope for such things in our friendship. In future also we both would like to continue our bond of friendship on and off the court”, she said.