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India Open review
For Private Circulation Only
Champions!
April 2008
Zhou Mi India Open winner 2008
Badmintonphoto.com
Vol. 1. No. 6
Aditi on Yip Pui Yin
April saw two big tournaments – the India Open and the Badminton Asia Confederation (ABC). Veteran Zhou Mi of Hong Kong beat a fancied field to take the India Open, while the young Jiang Yanjiao took the ABC to prove that the Chinese women aren’t done with the winning business just yet. Park Sung Hwan was a surprise winner of the men’s title at the ABC. Is the Korean a contender for the gold at Beijing? India Open Results: MS: Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Chetan Anand (Ind) 21-16, 21-12 WS: Zhou Mi (HKG) bt Lu Lan (CHN) 21-14, 21-14 MXD: He Hanbin/ Yu Yang (Chn) bt Kristof Hopp/ Birgit Overzier (Ger) 21-18, 21-9
Jiang Yanjiao ABC winner 2008
MD: Zhendong/ Zhongbo (CHN) bt Chew Eng Choon/ Chan Chong Ming (Mas) 19-21, 21-14, 21-12 WD: Chien Yu / Cheng Wen Hsing (TPE) beat Miyuki Maeda / Satoko Suetsuna (JPN) 21-17, 21-16
GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Editorial... There have been two major tournaments since the All England – the India Open in Hyderabad and the Badminton Asia Championships (ABC) in Johor Baru. The India Open saw some promising performances from Indian players – especially from Chetan Anand, who scored a memorable win over Chen Yu of China and went on to reach the final. While the conduct of the India Open was smooth, there was one indefensible failing – no news of the results reached the outside world. GUTS got a few frantic messages from Europe asking if there was any official website with live results, but there was none. It would have been the simplest task to update the results of each day, especially as there were several high-profile players in the tournament. News of the upset of All England champion Chen Jin in the second round took a day to reach the rest of the world – it was as if the India Open was being played in some desert outback, instead of the ‘IT city’ that it claims to be. But even as the result updates were ignored, it was heartening to see that the indigenously-developed on-court scoring system, provided by a Bangalorebased company, functioned impressively during its first international tournament. Meanwhile, there was one distinguished guest at the India Open – Minoru Yoneyama, the Director of Yonex. Yoneyama then visited the Tata Padukone academy in Bangalore, and played a short game with Padukone and Vimal Kumar. GUTS will bring you an exclusive interview with the man running a company that was born during the tumultuous time of the second World War. badmintonmania@gmail.com
BQ
Check your Badminton Quotient Pullela Gopichand was the last Indian to reach the final of the India Open, before Chetan Anand emulated him. Who did Gopichand lose to? SMS your answers to 098445 46292 Answer to last edition's BQ: Lin Dan would have been the first man since Rudy Hartono to win three successive All England titles if he had beaten Chen Jin
April 2008
Yip and I By Aditi Mutatkar
Aditi Mutatkar lost two thrilling three-set matches to Doha Asian Games silver medalist Yip Pui Yin at the India Open and ABC – at Hyderabad she led 18-10 and 21-20 before capitulating. The India no.2, back in Bangalore after completing her final year degree exams, takes GUTS through the two matches
AT HYDERABAD, it was a big occasion – Sania Mirza was there – and I was a little nervous. Yip plays like a guy – she’s got an explosive game, big jump smashes, very quick at net, hits and comes to tap. So it’s easier to play a deceptive game against her.
She led 20-18… but I was calm again, I played some quick points, and equalled at 20-all. Then again there were a couple of long points. She has a very hard hit, and she went for the lines, and closed out the match.
As the rallies progressed I got comfortable, I was reading Yip’s game and taking her smashes. She was upset, and she started complaining about a couple of decisions. After 18-all in the first game, I took the next three points.
I realised that at such points, you need to keep the shuttle down all the time. I realised later that I wasn’t taking the initiative, I was playing safe, I was rallying, but she closed out both points.
In the second game, she was out of it, she was panicking. I was almost there, at 18-10. Then I just don’t know what happened. I went blank – I realised that I was close to beating her, and then I could hear the crowd dancing and singing ‘Chak De’… the atmosphere was fantastic… all of that came to me at 18-10 – it struck me that I was leading her – and I lost focus, and I just screwed it up. Till 18, I was doing everything well. But I lost focus – I started thinking how could I beat her; how can I do so well; I started thinking of the crowd… I questioned myself. I was scared of winning. I was waiting for her to make mistakes, and that doesn’t work at that level. In the third game I just couldn’t come out of it… I was disappointed after losing the second. At the ABC, I could make out she was scared in the first game. I’d beaten Soratja C (Thailand) in the first round. I had a good game plan against Yip. Tom John and Gopi were with me and helping out, and I was ready for the match. I won the first set easily at 14. In the second, she changed her tactics completely. She started playing more drops, and very long rallies. I couldn’t realise what she was doing – I couldn’t read it quickly enough. The third game was my best ever. There were several long rallies; I was down 12-17 but I didn’t give her easy points. That baffled her – and I got a lot of quick points. She was getting tired, and panicky.
I was happy with the ABC because I repeated my performance against her, and I could adjust to her change in strategy. I was ready for her. At least I’ve consistently been playing at that level. One day I will beat them. Till now – I was always wondering if I could. I’ve become better over the past year. It’s not just physical. It’s mainly mental. Although I lost in the semis at the Nationals, I knew I was playing well, and the tournaments I selected made a difference. I’m more positive and tougher on myself now. These are the good years of my life. I’ve realised that if I’m not tough on myself I can’t get to that level. Players in the top 15 have very different styles, so it’s necessary to play strategically. They read your game in a flash. It’s more of strategy when you play the top-15 players. It’s not about their playing style, because their strokes are the same… but they can adapt to different players. You need to be alert, especially during the first 10-15 points. During the closing stages, they keep the shuttle down, they keep on attacking. They don’t think too much. They’re not scared of losing a point. You have to go into the match to win, not just to play well. It’s important that you believe you can win. India Open: Pre-quarters: Yip bt Aditi 18-21, 22-20, 21-11 ABC: 2nd round: Yip bt Aditi 14-21, 21-12, 22-20
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April 2008
GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
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Sumptuous feast
Badmintonphoto.com
The India Open, with its star-studded draw, upsets and stirring victories was a great advertisement for the game, writes ABHIJEET KULKARNI
HYDERABAD: Talk of the Chinese domination in world badminton coming to an end has been gathering momentum for some time now. The 2008 All England Open once again opened the debate when their women stars failed to impress; the performance of the Chinese contingent in the $120,000 India Open (April 1 to 6) will give heart to all those players who are looking to end the hegemony of the superpower. True, both the top seeds in the men’s and women’s singles – Bao Chunlai and Xie Xingfang – pulled out of the tournament with injuries, but the Chinese were still considered strong enough to sweep the title race with the likes of men’s All England champion Chen Jin and women’s World Champion Zhu Lin in the fray. However, the shocker came on the opening day of the main draw when Jin was shown the door by Malaysia’s Chong Wei Feng in the second round. In fact, there was no Chinese representation in the men’s NATIONAL coach Pullela Gopichand had been stressing on the need for India to host bigger international events for the development of the game in the country. His logic was that playing in front of the home crowd would give the players confidence that they could carry into the international circuit. The current young crop, like Austrian and Portuguese international winner Anand Pawar, junior national champion Guru Sai Dutt, Aditi Mutatkar and others, did come to the party along with Chetan Anand. Pawar has been on a roll this year and despite his preparations being affected by examinations made his mark. After an easy first round against Andres
singles after the quarterfinals as third seed Chen Yu was packed off by India’s Chetan Anand and Japan’s Sho Sasaki overpowered Lu Yi for a place in the last four. The Chinese women faired better with Lu Lan reaching the final, but was outplayed by the experienced Zhou Mi. Zhou, who moved out of China after being forced to retire in 2006, proved that there was a lot of badminton left in her – thus proving that her sidelining after the Athens Olympics was unfair. But the tournament belonged to Chetan, who made a dream run to the men’s singles final before succumbing to his nerves against Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand. The national champion showed why he is considered one of the best shuttlers India has produced with his deft shot selection and his ability to read the game faster than his opponent. Chetan became the first Indian male since Pullela Gopichand in 2001 to reach the final of a tournament of such stature.
Indian summer Corpancho of Peru, the world no. 81 outplayed Malaysia’s Tan Chun Seang and Yeoh Kay Bin to reach the quarterfinals. However, he froze in the second game against Englishman Andrew Smith after leading 18-10 in the second game and bowed out. The squad gave reason to cheer by raising the bar in front of the home crowd. Aditi pushed no.7 seed Yip Pui Yin to the wall but could not hit the knockout punch, while qualifier Gayatri Vartak upset Italian Agnese Allegrini, who is ranked 150 places above her. “It’s a very different feeling. The
In the last decade only Gopichand (1997, India Open) and Nikhil Kanetkar (1999, US Open) have reached the finals of starred events. His display also ensured that the India Open did not remain Indian only in name but that the local crowd had something to cheer throughout the week. On the organisational front, the tournament had to weather a lot of trouble before it got going. The twin bomb blasts at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad in September 2007 forced a postponement and then the shuttle import controversy earlier in the year threatened to derail the event once again. But the Grand Prix Gold event took off and not only proved that India was ready to host big international events, but that there is a good fan following for the sport. The sizeable crowd at the Gachibowli Stadium, a venue about 20 km away from the city, was a heart-warming sight and should motivate organisers and sponsors to come forward to host more such events in the country. confidence with which Aditi Mutatkar and Gayatri Vartak played here, they would have needed years to achieve if this tournament was not held,” said Gopichand. “In fact, it was my final in the 1997 India Open that changed my career graph as I began believing in myself,” said Gopi, who lost the final against Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia. While the upcoming stars impressed, Jwala/ Shruti disappointed. Saina Nehwal was a shadow of herself in the second round encounter against Eriko Hirose of Japan, while Trupti Murgunde and Arvind Bhat went down fighting against second seed Lu Lan of Chinese and Korean fourth seed Park Sung Hwan respectively.
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
April 2008
' The dreams are not big enough' In the February issue of GUTS, national coach P GOPICHAND gave us an insight into his rationale behind following the Chinese model for training. In part-2 of the interview, he airs his ideas on the training programme for juniors. An interview with TR BALACHANDRAN: How do you feel as a coach while watching your trainee play?
As a player, one of the good things was, I could read players very quickly. Mentally I was good at doing that, 3-4 points were good enough, and I could change the pace and work things. Likewise, today also, I feel the same, that’s where my strength is. It’s a good system now, because you can give inputs from outside. In India we have a 10-month long programme (at SAI Patiala) for coaches. A national or international coach needs to know a certain amount of stuff… like exercise physiology and other aspects. Is it necessary for him to go through the 10-month programme?
I would go with a different progamme, wherein there is a basic programme where you work and then go on the field, and then you work on level-2, level-3, level-4, level-5 and so on. Over a period of five years, each year you experience problems related to coaching, and then come back and you have a lot of cushions for the next level. Over four-five years, with training and refresher courses, we will achieve success. You mean like what the ABC has structured? ABC has a two-week basic course, and then another two-week level-2 course. Will it be useful in broad-basing that system in India?
well at a set-up. When you’re staying home, you train between 6 and 8 in the morning, and rush to school, and train in the evening. The food is not good, training is not sufficient, and you don’t get adequate rest. The only time people train well is when they are at a camp. Since some specialised centres are in place already, do you feel the children can train at those centres, and train at the national camps for two-three weeks at a time, two-three times a year?
What I’ve realised is, where are some of these players? There has to be some kind of follow-through. In our country, different people follow different training methods. Where have all our junior champions gone? Earlier, there were about 10 players in each discipline. Today you’re looking at two players. Everyone’s looking for their own happiness. You need drastic steps. Have you evolved a training system that’s applicable to players of all age-groups, across all centres, so there is uniformity in training?
At the sub-junior and mini levels there is regularity. But at the senior level it is difficult to do a system like that. In parameters like fitness you can do that. But at the basic level, if a players loses on account of fitness – that’s one of our problems, because of a lack of continuity.
We’ve had it across all sports. That’s a big ask, to change an entire system. I wouldn’t go with that, because it’s a government policy decision. There are other factors, other sports and people involved. For our benefit, we can have refresher courses and grading courses of the BAI that can run along with that. We can have our own system to evaluate our coaches. One national coach from England said they would never get the numbers that the Krishna Khaitan in Chennai does. But the numbers taper down at the senior level.
Players don’t see much happening on the career level, and that is a big drop. And also, the aspirations or dreams are not big enough. So the national level certificate is good enough. And the amount of hard work over time, players are not able to put in that. Has badminton as an income earning proposition not evolved?
That’s one way of looking at it. But for our population it’s not difficult to find people from the poorer sections, for them this prize money would be good enough. It’s not that higher prize money will guarantee us better players. Youngsters in schools will find it difficult to come to a training centre giving up academics in their home town. How will you cope?
This will need a bigger set-up. Eight months in a year shouldn’t be much of a problem. We’ve done it in our schools. That’s also what the government guideline says – 240 days of training is the minimum they ask. There will be a problem with schooling – we could do things like arranging tuitions, so that they won’t fall back at studies. At the end of the day, if the results have been coming, we don’t need to change anything. Otherwise it’s important that we look at alternatives, how players can train
CHETAN READS GUTS. DO YOU? PHOTOS COURTESY BADMINTONPHOTO.COM Editor: Dev S. Sukumar. Printed & Published by Dev Sukumar and Thomas J. Kunnath. P4, KSSIDC Industrial Area, Mahadevapura, Bangalore - 560 048. Printed at National Printing Press, Koramangala, Bangalore-560 095. Email: thomas@kunnath.in