Vishnu Mohan (Inset photo), 17, from Trivandrum, India:
Badminton is my favorite sport. I’ve represented my school in badminton in the nationals ever since the ninth grade.
Olympian Saina Nehwal, the famous Indian player, is ranked among the three top badminton players in the world.
I’ve learned a lot from badminton — it is a game which needs a lot of concentration. You have to watch the shuttlecock every time and hit that. And when we play doubles, we shouldn’t be angry with the other team if we lose. If you fail in one game, it’s not the end of the world; failure is a steppingstone to success.
Bad sportsmanship, as far as I’m concerned, is cheating. It’s so bad. What are you playing for? If you cheat during a game, you’re cheating your people, you’re cheating your fans who are watching, you’re cheating your country, and you’re cheating yourself. It shouldn’t be like that.
You have to be a very good player to be famous; you should be practicing very, very hard. A bad sportsman is not going to survive.
Above, Saina Nehwal competes in the Malaysia Open Badminton Supers Series in 2012.