Kidambi Srikanth & Ashwini Ponnappa wear masks, pull a prank - and leave a bunch of youngsters in awe!

It was a regular day at Hyderabad's Garuda Badminton Academy before an elderly couple decided to take the court and trump the young players.

But all was not as it seemed, as behind those ageing faces were badminton men's singles star, Kidambi Srikanth, and women's doubles and mixed doubles player, Ashwini Ponnappa. The duo had decided to prank the young trainees at the academy and give them an epic surprise before the year ended.

The ace shuttlers, dressed as an elderly couple who played the sport during their young days, arrived at the court, requesting permission to play with the trainees. They began the game slowly, dropping the shuttlecock at every serve, and being unable to pick it up due to 'pain in the joints'. However, that act lasted a couple of minutes, before the academy was shocked to see the elderly couple suddenly smash at every shot, leaving the trainees in awe.



As the game ended, the masks came off, and Ashwini and Kidambi - who are currently playing for the Awadhe Warriors and Bengaluru Raptors respectively, in the Premier Badminton League -were greeted to hugs from the young, aspiring players.