Glamour girl of Indian badminton Ashwini Ponnappa, who not long ago made Hyderabad as her ‘second home’, has decided to shift her base to Bangalore — a decision which could trigger intense speculations. However, 23-year-old Ashwini on Monday insisted that since her parents had shifted to her hometown, she too had decided to join them. “But, whenever the national camps are scheduled in Hyderabad, I will be coming here,” said Ashwini, who along with Gutta Jwala, has become the first pair from India to win a bronze medal in the World Championship last year.

Ashwini told ‘The Hindu ’ that she would be training at Thomas John’s Academy in JP Nagar in Benguluru where the other national players.

“I love Hyderabad. It gave me so much in life and in sport. And, it was a pleasure to train with Arif Sir (Dronacharya S.M. Arif). I always look forward to train under him,” the champion shuttler said.

“There is no animosity with anyone. I am grateful for all the support I got in the city and the reason for shifting base to Benguluru is I prefer to be with my parents,” she pointed out. Asked if Jwala taking a six-month break from badminton after the 2012 London Olympics could have been a reason, the doubles shuttler replied in the negative.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad, January 08th, 2013