Vishakha Toppo, the youngest of three daughters, born to a steel plant engineer in Rourkela, Odisha, chuckles that she built herself an entire Barbie universe. “Not like that… but yes, I used to tell my parents I’ll study or go practice badminton only if they bought me a new Barbie set. Otherwise, I would sit and watch Shinchan,” she recalls of a threat that always worked with her sports-mad parents.

Back-court audacious hitting prevailed over squeaking anime heroes in that absolute outpost of shuttle, an idyllic, quiet, steel city where recreational badminton is building critical mass for elite talent to emerge – Rourkela. Vishakha, who played a part in India nailing down a World Junior mixed team bronze medal, belongs to that bunch of young shuttlers emerging from centres that don’t go

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