In the midst of 40th Nagaland Inter-District State Open Badminton Championship at Indoor Badminton stadium Kohima on 29 July this year, Erenbeni was playing the doubles final, her partner Nsungbeni L Tungoe was a lefty/southpaw. The opponent team were no match for the duo, it was obvious that Erenbeni was different from the other players.
She was not physically imposing, but unlike the others, she displayed the touch of the professional in the way that she played. For someone so young to give such a display, it was a joy such a joy to see here in the court.
Erenbeni P Lotha, all of 16 years, is currently the junior badminton champion of both inter-district state open badminton and inter-district held recently in the state which were held recently at Kohima and Jalukie respectively. She hails from Sankiton Village in Wokha and is the daughter of Y Phyobemo Lotha.
As a little girl, Erenbeni was not the strongest. She was said to be “weak and feeble” physically. But her pursuit of sport helped here overcome that challenge. As she started playing badminton, her health also improved. Even her academic performances improved as did her personality.
According to her family, she is an extremely committed character. Even during intensive badminton coaching regime, she never fails to complete her studies, according to family sources. Besides her exploits in badminton, Erenpeni also performs exceptionally well in exams.
She has dreams of breaking into the national badminton circuit. Her target, she says, is to representing India in badminton at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Some of her achievements so far
1. Champion under-15 category in Girl's singles and doubles at 38th Nagaland Inter District and State Open Badminton Championship held at Mokokchung (5-8 August 2014).
2. Nagaland Champion under-17 category in singles and doubles at 39th Nagaland Inter district and State Open Badminton Championship held at Zunheboto (4-7 August 2015).
3. Bronze Medallist in Junior Girl category (double) at North-east Zone inter-state Badminton Championship, October 2015 Imphal (Manipur).
4. Nagaland Champion under-17 category Girl's singles and doubles at 40th Nagaland State Open Badminton Championship held at Kohima (27-29 July 2016).
5. Nagaland Champion under-17 junior Girl's singles in the 40th.Nagaland State Open Badminton Championship held at Jalukie, 25 August 2016.
6. Represented Nagaland in All Indian Sub-Junior Championship at Rhotak (Haryana) 2014
7. Represented Nagaland in the 40th inter-state Zonal and junior champion under-17 category (November 30-6 December 2015) Jaipur (Rajasthan)
8. National level women Sport and Badminton Championship Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) (12-15 December 2015)
(Inputs from Abenthung Kikon)
