Sridhar targets Indian Open to regain confidence
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 23 (PTI) Struggling with his form after a
five-month injury lay off, ace shuttler Anup Sridhar is
targetting the Indian Open Grand Prix to regain his confidence
and has set his eyes on making at least the semi-finals of the
tournament.
"I'm playing in an international tournament in India
after quite a long time so I'm very excited. I'm in reasonably
good shape as well.
"I think if I can win two-three good matches, that would
be OK. As far as results go, I think semi-final and above
would be good, and I think it's realistic as well," Sridhar
told PTI ahead of the tournament that starts with qualifiers
tomorrow.
"I tend to look at a situation like this as being a huge
opportunity to play myself back into form, get my confidence
back and earn some ranking points in the process," he added.
Sridhar twisted his ankle in March last year but still
played in the Beijing Olympics in August before being forced
to take a break for five months.
Returning to the court, Sridhar played in the Malaysian
Super Series, Korean Super Series, German Open, All England
Super Series, the National championship and the Wilson Swiss
Super series but he found the going tough in all the events.
However, the Bangalorean says he is determined to get his
form and fitness back and is working hard with his pshyio
Muthu Kumar.
"I am working with Muthu Kumar, a physio in Bangalore for
about a week now and I am confident that together we will be
able to get me back to full fitness," he said.
Once the highest-ranked Indian in the world, Sridhar is
now languishing at number 48 but the Bangalore shuttler said
he is eyeing the top 15 by the end of this year.
"I definitely aim to be back in the top spot by the end
of the year. I will need to be around the top 15 to achieve
that and I have planned my schedule to allow an extended
period of training to get my fitness to the right level," he
said.
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Saina's Olympic nemesis comes calling at Indian Open
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) She crushed Saina Nehwal's
Olympic dreams in Beijing and world number 18 Maria Kristin
Yulianti is hoping for an encore if the two face off in the
Indian Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament starting here
tomorrow.
"Saina is a world class player. What happened in Beijing
is past. This is a new tournament and a new challenge. I have
always enjoyed playing against Saina. She is really fast and
cover the court really well. I hope I can defeat her this time
too," 23-year-old Yulianti said.
Yulianti had beaten Saina in the Olympic quarterfinals
where she came back from 12-19 down to get the better of the
Indian.
Saina is not the only one Yulianti is wary of and said
she is not taking her other opponents lightly either.
"The field is tough and if one has to win this one, she
has to be really at her best," she said.
Playing such a big tournament after a long knee injury
lay-off after the Olympics, Yulianti said she is here to
acclimatise herself for the world championship to be held here
in August.
"It would be a very good experience to play here in
different conditions which would help us in future,"
Yulianti said.
The Indonesian was in high spirits as she practised with
her colleagues here at the Gopi Chand Academy.
"I am feeling much better now. It was really
disappointing to miss out of big sports events after the
Olympics bronze," said Yulianti.
Yulianti said winning the Olympic bronze was a great
experience for her but now her next target is winning the
World Championship.
"Winning the Olympic medal is very special for me. But
now after this tournament the focus shifts to winning a world
championship title," she said.
Yulianti said Saina would have the backing of the crowd
but she will try not to get distracted if the two come face to
face in the semis here. But for now, the Indonesian prefers to
focus on one round at a time.
"Let me take it step-by-step," she said.
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State Govt owes Saina Rs 20 lakh
Hyderabad, Mar 24 (PTI) India's most successful women
badminton player Saina Nehwal today brought to fore yet
another incident of government apathy towards athletes, saying
she was yet to receive the Rs 20 lakh cash award promised to
her by the state government in October last year.
"I have not received the award yet. It's really
disgusting. I can't afford to run after them for the money
which I deserve," a disappointed Saina said after her practice
session at the Gachchibowli Stadium today.
The World number 9 Indian said she was not even
interested in pursuing her case anymore.
"Initially, I had tried to contact the authorities but
then no one gave me any definite answers. They just kept
telling that I will get it but when no body knows," she said.
Saina, who is preparing for the World Championship to be
held in Hyderabad in August this year, is not taking the
Indian Open, which begins tomorrow, lightly either despite
some pull outs.
"The draw is good, it will be a tough tournament, there
are some good players like Julia (Pei Xian Wong), Maria
(Kristin Yulianti) and others. Each of them are good," she
said.
Saina will face unseeded Chew Yen Daphane Ng of Malaysia
in the first round.
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Lee Chong blames it on food poisoning and bad umpiring
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 25 (PTI) Unable to come to terms with the
shocking first-round defeat in the Indian Open Grand Prix
badminton, world number one shuttler, Lee Chong blamed his
unceremonious exit on wrong umpiring and food poisoning.
Lee Chong was today left fuming after world number 147,
Long Chen of China handed a 21-7 16-21 18-21 defeat to him,
pulling off probably the biggest upset of the tournament.
"The Chinese played well, but I wasn't well before the
match. I was suffering from food poisoning and seeked some
medication before the match," Lee told reporters after the
encounter.
Fuming at some of the umpiring decisions that went
against him, Lee said the line umpires need to improve their
quality of judgments, especially before India hosts the World
Championship in August this year.
"The umpires are not fit enough for the tournament. I
hope things will improve in the world championship," he said.
The Malaysian, who lost the match despite an attacking
start, was also not quite happy with the facilities here at
the Gachibowli stadium.
"No comments (about the facilities). It can improve."
Lee Chong thumped Long 21-7 in the first game, but Long
avenged soon by winning the next game 21-16 to make it
one-all.
In the third game, the Malaysian was trailing by five
points at 11-16 when he put up a spirited fight to go 12-18,
16-18 and then leveled it at 18-18 but the Chinese soon raced
away to 20-18.
It was at this crucial juncture that during his service,
Long's shuttle landed on the line but Lee went to the umpire
and insisted that he wasn't ready.
The umpire, however, ruled it in favour of the Chinese as
Lee had attempted the shot.
Meanwhile, Chen Long said that it the biggest victory of
his career.
"Yes, it is the biggest victory. I know I'm not in the
same league as he but I played hard. The wind direction
changed in the second game but I could control it. I will give
my best in the coming matches as well," he said.
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We need a specialised doubles coach: Jwala
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 25 (PTI) Together they won three mixed
doubles titles last year but Jwala Gutta and V Diju say they
don't have the "expertise" of a doubles player and called for
the appointment of a specialised coach.
Jwala and Diju, who won three international tournaments
-- Bulgaria Open Grand Prix , Bitburger Open Grand Prix, Nepal
International Series -- last year, feel its their mutual
co-ordination and practice that works in their favour.
"Me and Diju also don't have the expertise of a doubles
player, it's just that we have a very good co-ordination and
we understand each other so well that we are doing well. We
have practiced a lot," Jwala told PTI.
"India needs a specialised doubles coach, the sort of
coach we have in singles. If India wants to do well in team
events, it is very important to have a specialised coach who
can teach the players the technicalities of the game, travel
with the team and help the players analyse their and their
opponents games," Jwala said.
Diju also agreed that he coordinates well with Jwala.
"Since Jwala is left-handed and I'm right-handed, it is
proving to be quite advantageous for us. When the opponents
smashes a shot towards her thinking to trap her with a
difficult back hand, it turns out to a forehand and vice
versa," he said.
Jwala lamented that the doubles players are not given
proper recognition and incentives and so not many players are
taking to it.
"There are no incentives for the doubles players in
India, there is no backing and recognition either. We need to
back the doubles players, so that they can take up the game,"
Jwala said.
Diju and Jwala are world number 14 currently but Diju
said he was not confident of his own performance when he
started playing last year after losing precious time because
of the Badminton Association of India's hegemony.
"In the beginning of last year, When I started playing
again with Jwala, I was not at all confident. It was only
after we won some tough matches against tougher opponents and
won the three titles I regained my confidence," said Diju
Diju and Jwala, will face the Chinese pair of Xiolong Liu
and Jinhua Tang in the second round tomorrow, having got a bye
in the first round.
The duo is is taking the Indian Open as a preparatory
tournament for the World Championship and Diju feels they have
a chance to win the all important tournament to be held here
in August.
"I think we have a chance if we play well. Unlike
singles, in doubles, within the top 20, any pair can beat the
other pair, no matter what the ranking," Diju said.
Asked about their schedule after the Indian Open, Diju
said, "Currently we have just the Asian Badminton Championship
and the Sudirman Cup. We haven't thought after that."
And as for the ranking, Diju is hopeful of cracking the
top-10 soon.
"By this year end, we will try to break into the top 10,"
he said.
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Indian Open will help in CWG preparation: Atik Jauhari
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 26 (PTI) Indonesian coach Atik Jauhari,
who was roped in to train Indian shuttlers for the 2010
Commonwealth Games, said the ongoing Indian Open Grand Prix is
proving to be a good platform to assess the performance of
youngsters.
"This tournament has given a chance to many young
shuttlers to play against tough opponents and looking at their
game, it gives me a chance to assess their strengths and
weaknesses and prepare them better for the Commonwealth
Games," Atik told PTI.
Atik, who has been working with the country's shuttlers
since August last year, said India lacks a systematic and
well-planned training module.
"There are so many talented players in India but there is
no systematic and planned approach to training. We don't have
national training all through the year, we don't have enough
courts.
"In Gopichand's academy, we have eight courts, now if 40
players have to train simultaneously where do they go. We need
more academies like it.
"In Indonesia, there is a badminton centre equipped with
21 courts, a running track, 100 rooms for players, more than
three doctors, two physiotherapist, minimum two
multi-feeders."
"But in India the coach has to double up as a
multi-feeder, so how can he concentrate on the players," Atik
said.
"Also there are targets and intermediate targets which
are followed. Which player is playing in which tournament and
how is she faring is religiously followed and traced. We don't
have anything similar here," he added.
Asked about the chasm that exists between world number
nine Saina Nehwal and the rest, Atik said there is skill but
there are other factors as well.
"Performance depends on a number of factors, skill is
just one of them. There is strength, speed, power, mobility
and agility. Among the new breed, Thulasi (PC), Siki (Reddy)
have skill but they lack in other aspect. But they would get
there, it's a matter of time," he said.
Asked if he can see the spark in any young player, the
Indonesian said, "Rituparna has it in her but she is just 14
or 15, playing in the sub-junior level. She is very smart and
clever."
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World Series of boxing not for faint-hearted: Akhil
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 27 (PTI) For all the good it would do for
Indian boxing, Olympian pugilist Akhil Kumar says the AIBA
World Series is not for the faint-hearted as amateurs will
have to make major adjustments in the event which borrows
heavily from professional boxing.
"Amateurs will need a lot of heart to fight in this
series. It is not for the faint hearted. Boxing is a house of
pain and if one is scared of getting injured and hurting
himself, he should not come to boxing then. I know have that
heart and I would play," Akhil, who recently went up a
division to feather weight, told PTI.
The World Series of Boxing, scheduled for September next
year, will have competed in five rounds with boxers having to
fight without there head-guards.
The Series would comprise 12 franchisees of 10 boxers
each, to be picked during the World Championship in Milan this
August-September.
Akhil said if India gets to be one of the franchisees it
would put the country on the world map.
"It (World Series of Boxing) will highlight the boxers
and put Indian boxers on top of the world," Akhil said.
"There are supposed to be 12 franchisees, each made up of
10 fighters. Each match will have five rounds of three minutes
each," Akhil said.
"If it is finalised, each boxer will be selected after
the world championship and stands to gain around Rs 15 lakhs
to Rs 1.5 crore during the bidding."
Akhil said the tournament will prove to be a win-win
situation for the boxers and the Indian Boxing Federation.
"The federation also stands to gain a lot out of it as
they would receive a share of the money which will make them
financially strong," he explained.
Akhil was here for a week-long training and conditioning
camp under physiotherapist Heath Metthews in the Pullela
Gopichand academy and will make his feather weight debut in
the Asian Championship in Kazakhstan in June.
But the Harayana boxer said people should not expect
overnight success from him.
"I haven't played since the World Cup in December and
have also changed my weight category. Although, I train with
higher weight category boxers, it will still take some time
for me to get into the groove, so don't expect me to win
straightaway," he said.
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Arvind to take six-week break to gain complete fitness
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 27 (PTI) National champion Arvind Bhat
will shun competition for six weeks and undergo rigorous
training to ensure he is at the top of his fitness for
prestigious Sudirman Cup in May.
The world number 28 said although he doesn't have any
injury problems, his fitness is below his own expectations.
"It has been a long time since I took a solid six weeks
training. The last time I trained for so long was in July last
year. I have been training for two weeks and playing for three
weeks in competitions and I don't feel totally in command of
my fitness," Arvind told PTI.
"I'm still 10 per cent below my expectation, so I would
be taking an off for six weeks for a solid training session to
gain that level of fitness.
"Accordingly, I have withdrawn from the Asian
Championship and would next play in the Sudhirman Cup in
Guangzhou, China from May 10," he added.
Arvind put up a spirited fight but still lost to
tournament favourite Taufik Hidayat to crash out of the Indian
Open Grand Prix yesterday.
Arvind said he was surprised by Taufik's range of shots.
"I was surprised to see his strong, sharp and crisp
strokes. I couldn't gauge his game but this is the first time
I was playing against him so may be next time I will beat
him," Arvind said.
Arvind said it has been, otherwise, a good year so far as
he has got rid of some mental blocks which had troubled him
for quite sometime.
"This year, I got rid of some mental blocks. I won the
National Championship after five attempts, I beat a Chinese
(Pengyu Du) yesterday and I also stretched Olympic gold
medallist and world number two Lin Dan to three sets recently
in the Swiss Open Super Series. So, I feel it was a pretty
good year to start with," he said.
The 29-year-old ace said he is eying to break into the
the top-10 bracket by this year end.
"Last year I had set a target of cracking the top 25 but
the way this year has started, I guess if I play consistently
I should break into the top 10 or 15 by year end," he said.
At the international level, Arvind had made the final of
Bitburger Grand Prix and reached the quarterfinals of China
Open and Hong Kong Open Super Series last year besides making
the pre-quarters of German Open Grand Prix and Korea Super
Series this year.
Arvind said he had a very good session in Germany where
he has been playing for the last seven years in the German
county team.
"I had a good session in Germany, I beat the best payers
there more than once. I have been playing in the German county
team for the last seven years. If you play for five years, you
are officially eligible to represent German in all
international tournaments, so if I want I can play for Germany
but that I won't do even in my wildest dream," he said.
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Gopichand lives a dream through academy
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 28 (PTI) Former badminton ace Pullela
Gopichand says he is living a dream by grooming 90-odd
shuttlers in his academy here as he never got world-class
training facilities in India during his playing days.
Saina Nehwal is among the 90 shuttlers who undergo
training and specialised drills under the supervision of
Gopichand in this academy which also drew appreciation from
top international players like Taufik Hidayat at the ongoing
Indian Open.
"I travelled a lot in my career for training, we didn't
have the infrastructure, it was always a tried and tested
formula. So, I decided to do something which would help this
raw talent to grow and have the necessary training," Gopichand
said.
"It is very important for a sportsperson to start early
in his or her career. When I won the All England, I was 27 and
I want that the players should have more time at the top," he
added.
Gopichand's academy is equipped with international
standard courts, gymnasium and also offers physiotherapy, food
and diet programmes, accommodation. Some other projects to
improve the standard are in the pipeline.
"We are looking at a whole gamut of things, starting from
sport psychology, physiology, food and diet programme. Within
the next four months we will also have a sport medicine
center," Gopichand said.
"The project is in a very nascent stage, once we can
successfully complete it here, we will spread it across the
country."
Spread over five acres of land on the outskirts of the
city, the academy started in August last year.
Saina was all praise for the academy and wants more
such institutes all over the country.
"It is the best in India. It has all the necessary
facilities which takes care of all my physical and mental
aspect but we need more such all over the country," Saina
said.
The training sessions include not only working on
strokes, speed and other skills, but also innovative sessions
like cross sports training, where the shuttlers undergo
conditioning in other sports to improve their fitness level.
Even Olympian boxer Akhil Kumar was here last week for
a conditioning camp under physio Heath Matthews.
"I had come here for a week-long conditioning session
with Heath to improve my speed, agility and movement. The
facilities here are world class. I have not seen such a good
badminton academy anywhere else in the country," said Akhil.
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Disabled player finds hope in badminton
Amit Kumar Das
Hyderabad, Mar 29 (PTI) Eight summers ago, on a fateful
day in May, Satyam Janapareddy lost his left hand but instead
of getting bogged down by the tragedy, he found hope in
badminton and currently stands fourth in the world rankings
for disabled.
Currently working as a coach in the Pullela Gopichand
Academy, Satyam has been selected for the German Open starting
May 20 and the World Championship in South Africa in
September.
"Just two days ago I was selected for the German Open in
a training camp in Bangalore. I am very happy. I want to win
the tournament," Satyam said.
Born in Kovvur, a West Godavari district in Andhra
Pradesh, Satyam was always interested in the sport but the
fateful accident in 2001 was when he actually took to the
court.
In May 2001, Satyam lost his left hand while on work and
was bed-ridden for six months. By the time he recovered, he
had put on a lot of weight and started playing badminton only
to regain fitness.
What started as a fitness regime, soon became a passion
and he soon landed in Vijaywada under the tutelage of senior
SAI coach P Bhaskar Babu. After 17 months of training under
Babu and winning many local tournaments, Satyam turned
professional in 2005.
In the 2006 Asia Pacific Games in Malaysia, Satyam won
bronze in singles. A year later in the World Games in Taiwan,
he won bronze again in singles and gold in doubles, partnering
Rakesh Pandey of Haryana.
That same year in the World Championship in Thailand, the
28-year-old won a bronze again in singles and doubles, pairing
up with state-mate Raghuram.
And last year in the Asian Paralympic Cup in Bangalore,
Satyam won gold in doubles, partnering another state-mate T
Sanjeevaiah, and a silver in singles.
However, one medal that Satyam still only dreams of is an
Olympic gold and the shuttler is desperately waiting for the
2012 London Paralympic Games where badminton will be included
for the first time.
"Badminton will be included in the 2012 London Games and
I'm aiming for a Gold," he signed off.
