New Zealand's badminton champion Abhinav Manota nicknamed "Mani" by his friends, was close to giving up on the sport that was until he was egged on by a teammate Dylan Soedjasa to keep playing.
Manota, 26, originally from India was studying down in Christchurch and was spotted by rival now teammate Soedjasa, 23, and convinced Mani to join him up north.
"I didn't know I was going to play badminton here (North Harbour) because I came here (New Zealand) to do my studies," said Manota.
He moved to Christchurch from India in 2014 before making the move to Auckland.
"I remember it was the tournament in Wellington and that's where we first met (Soedjasa) and after a month or so Dylan contacted me."
The New Zealand champion revealed that he has won more matches against his teammate Soedjasa.
"I think I have won more times against Dylan," laughed Manota.
Manota has New Zealand residency but does not qualify to represent New Zealand at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games as he has no New Zealand passport.
"If I get enough support from Badminton New Zealand then yes I hope to play in the 2020 Olympics (for New Zealand)."
Both players are set to play in tomorrow's New Zealand Badminton Open tournament which features several top 50 athletes from around the globe.
"It's pretty crazy because we played each other (Manota) when we first met and so after that I found out that he was a really good player and I tried to recruit him to my association," said Soedjasa.
"It ended up being that he joined us, I mean it is pretty fortunate that he wanted to pursue badminton because he started off with just studying in New Zealand."
The 23-year-old praised Manota's movement and elegance on the court.
"He just glides on the court, really good technically and he's a nice guy."
World number nine player Lin Dan from China will be competing in the tournament and is known in badminton circles as the Roger Federer of the game.
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