National Games 2025: How an email fast tracked Suryaksh Rawat's career

Suryaksh Rawat was a relatively unknown name on the Indian badminton circuit. But it all changed on Monday, thanks to a single tweet from double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu.

"An absolute no-brainer in terms of talent," asserted PV Sindhu on X, formerly Twitter.

"A rare talent with excellent defense, and many other qualities. Wishing you the best, Suryaksh," she added.

It is not often that someone of Sindhu's stature accords lavish praise on a rising youngster. But Rawat was unperturbed.

"I read it. Someone showed it to me," a straight-faced Rawat told The Bridge on Tuesday. "I had the opportunity to meet her [Sindhu] when she visited the academy."

A memorable run

Rawat,16, who trains at the famous Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in Bengaluru, had a memorable run at the ongoing 2025 National Games in Dehradhun, Uttarakhand.

And it was his performance at the event that prompted Sindhu's tweet.

Playing in front of his home crowd, Rawat on Monday defeated the second seed DS Saneeth 13-21, 22-20, 19-21 in a hard fought semi-final.

He was down 15-19 in the decider but bounced back to win the final six points to secure a spot in the final. His watertight defence stood out as he dismantled Saneeth to move into the gold medal match.

Rawat ended up winning the silver medal in the competition eventually, finishing second best to top seed Sathish Kumar Karnukaran on Tuesday. He lost the final 17-21, 17-21 but not before giving a good account of himself.

Single-minded ambition

Rawat picked up the badminton racquet as an eight-year-old in his home city of Dehradhun. A few good results in district and state level competitions convinced his then coaches that the lad should pursue the sport seriously.

Son of a doctor father and housewife mother, Rawat shot an email to the PPBA, expressing his wish to join them. He was recruited into the academy following an intense selection camp sometime back.

Once there, his game transformed.

The teenager currently trains under the watchful eyes of DK Sen – father of India's highest ranked shuttler Lakshya Sen.

Having left his home at a young age to pursue his sporting ambitions, Rawat hoped that his city had better opportunities to offer in the sport.

"We need better coaches and staff here [Dehradhun]," he said.

A grade 11 student, these days Rawat returns to the city only for his school examinations. The rest of his days are spent at the PPBA hostel, nurturing a solitary dream, "Olympic jeetna hai [I want to win the Olympics]."