Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy always enjoyed sports. Growing up in India, he trained and participated in table tennis, tennis and badminton at school and at National level tournaments. When he moved to Europe for higher studies, he realised that he could play all his favourite games in one single tournament – The Racketlon. And emerged a champion!
Adarsh is the first Indian to win the doubles title of world tournament in Racketlon – Berlin Open held earlier this year at Berlin. More recently he won second place in the Swiss Open in the same category.
Racketlon
Originating in Finland and Sweden, Racketlon is gaining popularity as a world sport. It comprises the four most popular racket sports – table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis played together in a sequence.
In Racketlon, each player competes against an opponent, or a doubles pair, in all the four racket sports – table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis.
The tournament begins with one set played in each sport starting from the smallest to the biggest racket. A 21-point game is played in all four individual sets; while in team competitions, the individual matches are played to 11 points. Each game requires a margin of two points to finish a set.
First Indian to win the doubles title of world tournament in Racketlon
23-year-old Adarsh Vikram Narayanaswamy moved to Germany to pursue his masters in engineering at Hochschule Dusseldorf, Germany.
“I have been playing badminton for 14 years. I’ve represented my state in the national championship in India and now I am playing for a club in Cologne for a German league,” he says.
Adarsh has also played table tennis and tennis for a decade in India. “I came to know of a sport called Racketlon – which is an interesting combination of the four racket-oriented sports. I have been playing Racketlon now for the past 8 months,” he adds.
Adarsh undertook rigorous training to improve his squash level. “It’s been a big boost for me that I’ve been playing for the past 10 year at the local league back in India. I used to play table tennis and have won medals in it as well, but squash was completely new to me.”
During the past eight months, Adarsh has participated in various tournaments in Germany and won a couple of them. “I took part in world tournaments, Berlin Open, where I secured the first place in the Men’s B double category. I was the first Indian to achieve such a feat. And recently, I won second place in the Swiss Open in the same category.”
It was at the Swiss tournament that one of our readers, Rajesh Varadarajan met Adarsh, spoke to him and shared his story with us.
Future plans
Adarsh now aims for a better world ranking in Racketlon in a few years. “I will also be representing India in Germany at a tournament which is to be held in a couple of months. I would like to encourage other players to take up this interesting sport. It’s a lot of fun and entails a lot of travel and a great atmosphere for players. I hope Racketlon gains popularity in the next decade not only in India, but throughout the world,” he signs off as we wish him luck for his future games!
Click on the video below to see the full interview.
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