Chandigarh badminton player bags bronze medal at European senior masters

48-year-old Geeta Mahajan, an avid badminton player who hails from Chandigarh, has landed a distinction of winning a bronze medal at the European senior masters badminton tournament held at Vienna, St Polten Austria. Held this month, Geeta participated in the 45+ plus event, where she competed with players from 18 countries. A fifth seeded player in all India ranking, Geeta, who is a Panjab University alumna, has been playing badminton since her childhood."I have been actively participating in various championships and won several awards and recognitions like the all India gold in university tournaments, besides others," says Geeta who is working in the pharmaceutical industry. Ask her what motivated her to play badminton and continue doing so at this age, she says, "It is the love for fitness and the sport that keeps me going. In my circuit there are people aged 80+, so this sport of badminton keeps people young with long lives." While Geeta says she wants to motivate more girls into playing badminton, the sport doesn't find many takers among the female gender. "I am hoping young girls get inspired by my achievements. Not many girls, especially from Chandigarh are into badminton. Girls from south India and Haryana are still playing but not many from Chandigarh. I guess here the focus is on academics for girls," she says, adding, "Though we have the likes of PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and now Lakshay Sen inspiring youth into playing badminton."Besides being an active player herself, Geeta is also coaching special children, who practice for the Paralympics. "I coach these children for about half an hour in Sector 42 sports complex. It feels heartening seeing them put in all their efforts for sports distinction," she says. Geeta, who has two grown up children, says now that she is free from her major responsibilities as a mother, she is actively planning to participate in tournaments two to three times a year. At 48, how does this mother of two manage to stay in top form physically? "I wake up early for a start," she answers, saying, "This game requires strength so I strength train and do yoga, run on the Sukhna Lake and do drill training on the court for five times a week. When we compete in international circuits, is when we realise the physical powers and strength of players from these countries is far superior to ours. And those players play all forms of sports for fitness." Next, Geeta is preparing to represent India in Thailand in July and is also aiming at UK and US championships.