Photos: BadmintonPhoto.com
Vol. 1. No. 12
For Private Circulation Only
December '08 January '09
Korea KOREA Open OPEN Indian renaissance Danish delight
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An age-old problem
In the second instalment of our series 'India Forward', we examine the overage menace and ways to combat it:
ONE OF the biggest problems that has dogged Indian sport through the ages as the overage menace. Competitors playing in age groups below their own are not just taking advantage of lax enforcement measures; they are cheats and should be subjected to the same punishment as dopers. Indian badminton has long had the shame of accommodating players who play alongside competitors six, seven or even eight years below their own age category. Unfortunately, unlike doping, this issue hasn't attracted the coverage of the mainstream press. Unlike doping, age group violation is an issue in the junior categories, and everybody assumes the problem will automatically be solved when such players graduate to the senior ranks. But the problem of age-group violation is not something that is so easily resolved. Apart from its inherent unfairness, such violations cause deep disenchantment within the badminton community, for it violates the rights of those who play fairly within their own categories. How many talented juniors have given up the game after running into such cheaters in the early rounds? How can such players motivate themselves to continue with the game? How many cheaters have misused the job/ education quota reserved for sportsmen? Indian badminton has a history
GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
of tolerating cheaters and for not doing anything even when players and parents have protested. Here are some recent instances and action taken: * Dehra Dun: (Sub-Junior Nationals) 2007, Many players were found overage. None of them was disqualified. The original certificates of one player was procured by parents of other competitors and submitted to the BAI. He was banned from his age category, but permitted to play in the under19 event later.
>> india forward >> * Nellur (Junior Nationals) 2007: Many players were caught. Except for one singles and one doubles player, the rest were permitted to play. * Patna (Sub-Junior Nationals) 2008: According to reports, 17 out of 38 players tested were found overage but no action was taken. * Sivakasi (Junior Nationals) 2008: On the day of the finals, the officials lined up the quarterfinalists and asked them to fill up a sheet of paper. Player were then taken in a bus by two officials. After almost two hours they returned. The 'test' conducted was: height and chest measurements. They asked the name and age of the players and took a photo. All of this suggests that age testing has become a farce, and that the administration is not serious about checking age violations. One well-known player has even submitted four different age certificates
Dec '08 - Jan '09
at different times! It is astounding how a player's age can be changed by submitting a fresh certificate. The persistence of age violations is a mystery, because it is such an easy problem to solve. GUTS examines various ways to counter this menace. # 1: Maintain an online database of all players, complete with date of birth and other bio-data. This data should be entered as soon as a player registers with the state association. Each state association will submit the bio-data of its players along with the entry form for national ranking tournaments. Once submitted, the age cannot be changed. The online database will help parents/ coaches check a player's credentials in case of suspicion. # 2: If the BAI fails to maintain such a database, a parents' national lobby should volunteer to do so. Parents could take legal recourse in case their suspicions are not satisfactorily addressed. # 3: Age certificates should be standardised. Birth certificate (and not school or panchayat certificate) to be submitted. # 4: Harsher punishments: first-time violators to be served with a two-year ban; second-time violators with a life ban. Age testing results to be made public. # 5: The parents' lobby could approach education department officials and ensure that cheaters will receive a warning/ comment on his school-leaving certificate. Mail your comments to badmintonmania@ gmail.com and follow the debate online at badmintonmania.wordpress.com
THIS menace needs to be eradicated. It’s gone on for too long not just in badminton but across all disciplines. Too much has been spoken, yet no action has been taken. We may give suggestions but until the authorities have the will to change things for the better -- and players’ interest is of prime importance -- there is absolutely no hope for talented and deserving players. There needs to be more unity among players and parents, not selfishness, because I believe that without players there can be no official. But will this unity ever exist is the question.
address and dates of birth. He used to compare the dates of birth submitted at the time of tournaments with the existing register and verify with the school authorities in case he had a doubt about any particular player. This simple method unearthed fraud perpetrated by parents of two players from Mysore in 1996 or 1998. They were banned for two years and KBA stood firm despite undue influence from higher levels. This more or less made such attempts to fudge ages of badminton players in Karnataka very very rare in the last several years.
-Ashwini Nachappa, former international athlete
All you need to do is a similar process in all the states. Badminton is not such a popular game that hundreds of players register every day. All players should register their names with relevant details with respective district secretaries. The secretary should collect them, enter them in a register or computer and ascertain the correctness of the details by checking them up with the school/ local bodies. Once it is done, the same should be sent to the State secretary who will issue an identity card to the player. It should enable the player to participate in any recognised tournament in India without again and again producing proof of age. Here, there has to be fixing of responsibility on the State secretary and in
IF possible, a person from the association should check the authenticity of the birth records with the hospital where the player was born. -Akshay Sawai, Sports writer MOST of the suggestions pointed out are very good. I would like to point out another aspect. Around 14 years ago, MD Murali was actively involved in KBA activities. He used to maintain a simple register with the names of players with their addresses, school
Dec '08 - Jan '09
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
turn, the district secretary. This seemingly simplistic method is not followed correctly by BAI and most of the state associations. It is the root cause of the overage menace in badminton. Similarly, the dates of birth mentioned in BAI website has such remarks like – “more than one date of birth certificate submitted”, “birth certificate not in prescribed format”, etc. This is an open declaration that the national body is not taking care of these basic housekeeping chores. There has to be a change in law taking into consideration the advance made in age verification techniques. Their accuracy has to be ascertained and accepted by the apex judicial body in no uncertain terms. Age verification tests will have to be resorted to in rare cases if the above simple methods are implemented and they should have the legal authenticity at the highest level. In Kerala, it is understood that registration of births has been made compulsory in 1988 and thus all junior, sub-junior, mini and midget players of Kerala today should have certificates issued by Corporation/ Municipality/ Village office. All states should have such a legislation in place and such certificates should be the proof of age instead of school certificates which are easier to forge. Finally, solving the menace boils down to having a national association which has the will, and comprising of state associations willing to work, district associations who do the groundwork thoroughly and comprising genuine badminton clubs and players (and not those in paper, formed for just conforming to stipulations for forming sports associations). -TR Balachandran, Coach THIS is definitely a subject to be debated. Being a former national-level player I have come across many such players who were competing in lower categories and winning laurels, but in most 8.5 cm cases they played with the support of their associations. In fact I got
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to know that some of our leading coaches encourage their players to play in lower age categories and win medals so that they (coaches) could take credit. I don’t want to generalise, but a majority of them take advantage by such means. I too am a victim of this age issue. When I was the Kerala State Association Secretary I received an official protest from parents and players about a few players regarding their age. I could take action against all but one player who brought a fake birth certificate. After a few years I got to know that his father had managed to get a birth certificate from somewhere far from his birthplace. The present BAI rule on age is a farce. Anybody who can manage a birth certificate by bribing or by some other means can easily play and win medals. We should have an alternate option of checking the players' age scientifically, i.e., by medical verification by qualified doctors (dental check or bone tests ). BAI should allow all tournament organisers to send suspicious candidates for medical tests and the players should produce the certified copy of birth certificate on demand. In the present system if the state secretary can give a declaration on the player’s age, and the organisers are bound to accept it. What nonsense is this? There should be provision to punish the player and his association if he is found to have cheated. This is as criminal as doping in sports. -John of Matha, Ex-National player, former State Secretary & BAI committee member. (john_matha@yahoo.co.in) I FEEL this is a very critical issue and firm action is needed, since even a difference of six months in age can cause a huge change in the game and standard. A junior player cannot compete with someone two or three years older! If firm action is not taken immediately we will lose lots of talented children and many will lose their interest and quit badminton. The following action can be taken: #1 Birth certificate from hospital to be made mandatory (since other documents can be manipulated). # 2 If found guilty the player should be banned for three years. # 3 In case of All India tournaments the respective state association should be held responsible if the player is found guilty.
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-Krishna Kumar, former Indian international
BQ Check your Badminton Quotient Name the two tournaments that Jwala and Diju won in Europe last year. SMS your answers and name to 09611833630
Answer to last edition's BQ: Flemming Delfs Winners: Antony Aloysius, Daya Elsa, Megha Merin Ninan, Dilshad, Sanju Sabu, K Suresh, Gagan Kapila First four winners are eligible for the prizes
diju reads guts. do you?
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Dec '08 - Jan '09
Aditya, Sikki quell all contenders
The two emerged national junior champions, but not before overcoming some tense moments, writes TR Balachandran Sivakasi (Tamil Nadu): The junior nationals was shorn of glamour as top juniors Saina Nehwal, the recently-crowned World Junior Champion and Guru Sai Dutt, the World Junior bronze medallist, decided to stay away. Saina and Guru Sai were competing in the senior circuit and doing well. Guru won his first senior international title in Bahrain and Saina did well to reach the semis of the season-ending Masters Finals. The match of the tournament was the semifinal between eventual champion Aditya Prakash of Karnataka and HS Prannoy of Kerala. Prannoy, at 16, is already a member of the Indian junior national team and had beaten Aditya twice consecutively. He seemed to make it three in a row over Aditya when he won the first game comfortably. In the second game, Aditya changed gear and under the guidance of trainer Vinod, started showing more aggression both in his game and attitude. This paid rich dividends and he won the second game in a canter. He also dominated the early part of the third game and it gave him enough room to finish the match despite match-end jitters. Sumeeth Reddy had shown tremendous consistency winning three of the four All Indian Junior Tournaments held last season. He faced an inspired rival in Prakash Jolly in the semifinal. Jolly’s attacks near the net was reminiscent of his coach Vinod, former Indian doubles international, and he blitzed Sumeet in the first game. In the second, Sumeet got used to his opponent’s game and settled down to a comfortable pace. It went neck-and-neck in the third till 12-13 in Sumeet’s favour when Prakash made an error with a net tap. This somehow broke Prakash's concentration and he gave five points in a row. This was too big a gap to bridge and a relieved Sumeet grabbed this opportunity. The finals were a washout as Aditya played a brilliant match to crush Sumeet 21-9, 21-10. It was a creditable win for Aditya who had earlier won the under-13 national title five years ago. He was also a prohibitive favourite for the under-16 title
Aditya Prakash reaffirmed his supremacy of the junior circuit by winning the nationals
two years ago but capitulated to his partner Pratik Patel in the semis. Aditya and Pratik won the under-19 boys’ doubles title beating Aravind and Jawahar of Andhra Pradesh in two close sets. It is interesting to note that the same pairs had met in the sub-junior national doubles final two years back with Aditya and Pratik ending victors. The top junior doubles team of the country, Pranav Chopda and Sai Praneet, lost a close tie in the semifinal to Aravind and Jawahar.
junior nationals In the girls’ singles, Sikki Reddy, last year's runner-up, won the title beating arch rival PC Thulasi in the final. Sikki was taken to three games by doubles specialist Pradnya Gadre in the quarters. Nerves almost undid Sikki in the final as well, where she lost an unconvincing second game and was run very close by a less than 100% fit Thulasi in the decider. In the doubles, Sikki and Thulasi played their virtual final in the semifinal tie against Pradnya Gadre and Shweta Kelkar and mauled Vaishali Baria and national sub-junior champion Saili Rane in the final. The mixed doubles title was won by Pranav Chopda and Pradnya Gadre who beat Nandagopal and Megha Merin Ninan in the finals. The standard of paired events especially among girls left a lot to be desired
and top coaches will have to sit down and plan a strategy to improve their standard.
India's Gen Next
ADITYA said he wanted to do well because this was his last year in the juniors. “I expected a tougher match in the final, but Sumeeth was probably tired,” he told GUTS. “I just wanted to keep the shuttle in play, maintain long rallies, because Sumeeth tends to be impatient.” About his tough semifinal, he said: “I knew Prannoy’s game, he hits and rushes to the net, so I had to slow the game, make him move around the court. The first game I didn’t get my length right, and he played well. In the second I got my length right, and that helped me get several weak returns. By the third I was able to maintain the rallies, get him to commit mistakes. Whatever I planned I executed well.” Aditya is currently preparing for his II PUC (Commerce) exams in March, and having to juggle training and studies. His day starts early – he attends tuitions from 6.30 to 8, reports for training at 9. After three hours of badminton, he gets some rest until 2.30. Then it’s back to badminton from 2.30 to 5. After that, he has to rush back for tuitions from 7.30 to 9.30. It’s a tight schedule. “I find the subjects interesting, so I don’t doze off during tuitions,” he says. Despite this schedule, he will play both the PSPB and nationals.
Dec '08 - Jan '09
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Prannoy, who has beaten Aditya twice – at Nellur in 2007 and the Krishna Khaitan in October 2008 – said he’s been feeling the after-effects of an upset stomach right through the tournament. “But Aditya played very well, he was very composed. He is a difficult player to face. He doesn’t seem powerful when you watch from outside, but when you face him you realise he has a sharp smash, and his strokes have great depth. The first time it’s always difficult to play him. At Hyderabad my body took a toll after beating him. He’s a very cool player, his expression doesn’t change even if he’s trailing. His footwork is great, he covers the court easily without spending too much energy. The shuttle keeps coming back. Basically, you cannot afford to get into a rally with him, because his court coverage is good. His net dribble is not extraordinary, but it’s good enough to force a lift to midcourt, and then he can finish it with his smash. He’s got a strong backhand, so he doesn’t need to run around. He’s also very composed. You can never relax even if you have a big lead, he keeps coming back.”
High on confidence
After the two mismanaged tournaments at Chandigarh and Hyderabad,
SIKKI REDDY is reckoned as one of the most promising girls in India. With the advantage of being a left-hander, Sikki is a tough customer for any opponent, as Saina Nehwal found out during the singles final of the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune last October. Saina scraped to a 23-21, 22-20 win, but her performance convinced Sikki that she was on the right track. The Hyderabadi, like Saina a trainee at the Gopichand academy, talks to TR Balachandran of GUTS: What do you take back from the Commonwealth? I became more confident. Before that I used to lose a lot of tight matches in the third game. After playing Saina in two tough games I thought, if I can come so close to Saina, why can’t I play much better against other players? What expectations did you have before the event? Actually, I didn’t expect anything. I didn’t even think I’d play a tough match with her. I played my game freely. Gopi Sir told me to play my game. In the first game I was leading 17-12. After that, because of the drift my pushes were going out. In the second game I was down 12-17, 13-18, then I made it 20-all. I got a mid-court smash, but I hit the frame and netted the shuttle. Did you think Saina was at her best, or was she feeling the pressure? I think she played her game, but I was aggressive, playing tight dribbles, and whatever I did was going right. All my points were hard-earned. Did your training together help you play
HS Prannoy of Kerala
Sivakasi was a welcome change. The tournament was well organized by a set of officials headed by SC Bose. Players, coaches, officals and parents were well taken care of. Bose says Sivakasi, having hosted many state and national level tournaments, is now keen to host an international Invitation tournament. Results: Junior Boys Singles: Aditya Prakash (Ktk) bt Sumeeth Reddy (AP) 21-10, 21-9; Junior Boys Doubles: Prateek Patel (AI)/ Aditya Prakash (Ktk) bt S Aravind/ P Jaya Jawahar (AP) 24-22, 21-19; Junior Girls Singles: Sikki Reddy (AP) bt PC Thulasi (Ker) 21-16, 10-21, 21-15; Junior Girls Doubles: Sikki R/ PC Thulasi (AP) bt Vaishali Baria/ Saili Rane (AI) 21-12, 21-13; Junior Mixed Doubles: Pradnya Gadre/ Pranav Chopra (AI) bt Mega Marin Ninan (Ker)/ Nanda Gopal (AP) 21-18, 21-13. Team championships: Boys Team: Andhra Pradesh bt A ir India 2-0; Girls Team: Andhra Pradesh bt Maharashtra 2-0
such a close match? I don’t practise with her. She plays with the boys, and I play with my batch. She’s traveling most of the time, and last year I was at a camp in Indonesia. When we’re together, she feeds me and I feed her. How was the camp in Indonesia? They made us do a lot of weights and strengthening exercises. Lots of attacking routines. They basically tell you to play positive all the time, even if you play midcourt, you’ve got to play on-court, stay positive. We used to do endurance once a week. We did 3,000m once a week, but they allowed us to split the routine, it was up to us. You just need to do it fast. I think the Indian camps are better, you build more stamina and strength. In Indonesia, the emphasis is on speed work. It’s different. The first time I went it was okay, because we couldn’t get Indian food. The second time, we got Indian food, and we improved our speed work – both foot speed and hand speed. They would give us a heavy racquet of 120 gms, and we had some different shadow routines. Has the training changed since Gopi’s academy shifted to the new stadium? Previously, the camp would have the same routine every day, we used to get bored. But Atik (Jauhari) Sir changed the programme at the new centre. We’re enjoying it now. You must be looking forward to the next World Juniors? I can do well. I need to be more positive, and more consistent. This time I wasn’t consistent. I need to maintain fitness while playing tournaments.
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Dec '08 - Jan '09
The promise of plenty A LONG while from now, when one looks back at Indian badminton, 2008 will emerge as a landmark year. It will be the year when an Indian cracked the top-10. But it’s not just in the matter of breaking into the top-10 that Saina Nehwal’s achievement is significant. Rather, it is the possibility of much more to come; it is affirmation of the Indian badminton community’s confidence in her all along, ever since she emerged as the brightest spark in the junior ranks more than five years ago. Today, Saina Nehwal is capable of beating any player on the planet, and it is this that 2008 has gifted us – a sequence of victories that has propelled badminton to the front pages of newspapers. Suddenly, badminton has become cool. But while all the attention has been on Saina, a few other Indians have performed exceptionally. Most recently, Jwala and Diju exceeded expectations by beating the World Champions in the second round of the Korea Open, and went on to reach the semifinal. Chetan Anand finished the year ranked no.l5 – a superb accomplishment considering that he was no. 50 exactly a year ago. Chetan climbed ahead in the rankings based on a smart selection of tournaments and a consistent run of form. Although he didn’t perform particularly well at the Super Series, excepting the Danish SS, he won three
titles and reached three finals. His title wins at Bitburger, Bulgarian and Belgian Opens were instrumental in propelling him inside the top-20. His wins over top-10 players Sony Dwi Kuncoro (at the Danish SS) and Chen Yu (at the India Open) suggest that the talented Hyderabadi has at last begun to get things together. Apart from these two, some doughty warriors kept Indian badminton alive at a time when the national circuit remained in coma. Arvind Bhat, Aditi Mutatkar, Anand Pawar, Guru Sai Dutt, the doubles teams of Sanave Thomas/ Rupesh Kumar; Jwala Gutta/ Diju and Jwala/ Shruti Kurien showed that the country’s badminton players were no mere journeymen on the international circuit. There were some promising displays from Sikki Reddy, Ajay Jayaram, Aditya Prakash, P Kashyap, Neha Pandit and Gayatri Vartak as well, and the Indian junior team at the Commonwealth and the World Junior tournament in Pune – which was capped by India’s first-ever world title, courtesy Saina Nehwal. Amidst all this, one player could not quite live up to the momentum of 2007 – Anup Sridhar. Anup took a game off Lin Dan at the All England but his year went haywire from there; first sustaining an injury at the Swiss Open and then later in the year just before the Olympics. With
a fit Anup heading into 2009, the Indian badminton challenge looks keener than ever. With as many as a dozen Indians now eligible for the main draw of every Super Series, it looks like exciting times ahead for Indian badminton. No other sport has so many Indians ranked so high (Chetan is no.13, Arvind is at a careerhigh 23). Arvind is an inspiration – a yearand-a-half ago, he was not even ranked as he was coming back from ankle surgery! Jwala and Diju's performances in the Super Series will be closely followed in the media, and that might inspire a generation of players to take this event seriously. It’s the right moment for BAI to have a specialist doubles coach accompany the two at international events. GUTS has brought players’ voices to the public domain, and has highlighted concerns of the community. It has already sounded warnings about our national circuit; the performances of Saina, Chetan, Arvind and the others should not detract from the fact that our comatose national circuit has dashed the hopes of aspiring youngsters. GUTS has followed Indian badminton right through this significant year. The collection of GUTS covers shows the evolution of Indian badminton from late 2007 to early 2009. Mail: badmintonmania@gmail.com
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Dec '08 - Jan '09
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Jwala-Diju create history
Stamping her authority
Earlier, Denmark’s Tine Rasmussen retained her Malaysia Open title and declared it as the first step to winning a World Championship medal. The world no. 2 had a tough battle against top seed Zhou Mi but subdued her rival 21-17, 15-21, 21-16. Frenchwoman Pi Hongyan ended Saina Nehwal’s run in the quarterfinals, thwarting the Indian’s bid for her first Super Series title. Saina fought well to save four match points in the second game, but Hongyan overcame an early deficit in the decider to nail the match 21-17, 24-26, 21-16. Saina had lost three matches to Hongyan, but was the victor in their last match at the Masters Finals in Malaysia
in December. Hongyan, however, went 15-9 ahead; the Indian inched close at 16-17, but that’s the closest she could get. The second game was a tense battle, with both remaining neck-and-neck; Hongyan had four opportunities to close the match, but Saina survived. The Indian staged a comeback from 16-19 down to make it 19-all; Hongyan earned four match points, but Saina saved each one of them. “I didn’t think of anything, I just kept picking up everything that she threw at me,” she said. “I was focusing on every point, but in the third game I was getting a little tired and changed my game and tried to play more strokes. There were some long rallies, I was confident of my shots, but some of them went out. That made the difference. There was a bit of drift in the hall, but that’s okay, one needs to get used to it.” Saina went ahead 9-5 in the third, but Hongyan caught up and then maintained a safe distance. “There were a few errors in the third game. She’s more experienced, and I guess the hall conditions suited her rally kind of game.” Saina's compatriots – Chetan Anand
Korea Open Malaysian Open
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Kuala Lumpur: Tine Rasmussen and Lee Chong Wei emerged champions in the year’s first Super Series, the Malaysian Open (Jan 6 to 11). Lee, who emerged victorious on home turf in December at the World Super Series Masters Finals, was hardly troubled in beating Asian champion Park Sung Hwan 21-14, 21-13 to take home the $ 15,000 winner's cheque.
super series round-up
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After a mediocre season following the All England, Tine Rasmussen shows she still belongs to the elite circle
Strategy-wise we are superior to them, we are more flexible tactically. We are more intelligent on court. If we can maintain our fitness, we can match any pair in the world.” Diju reflected on their tactical game that helped befuddle the Indonesians. "We went 0-10 down in the first game," says Diju. “and then we thought we should not clear the shuttle so high, we ought to keep it at the net, make them lift it. It worked, and in the third game they lost patience and we won quite easily. It took a while for it to sink – that we'd beaten the world champions.” It has dawned on Jwala and Diju that the top pairs in the world are not that far away, that they are within sight. “You don’t get too many opportunities for the smash in mixed doubles,” he said. “Most of the top pairs play flat very well, they’re very good on the drives. Once we figured that out, we could catch them consistently. And Jwala’s left-handedness confused them. I’d say we're capable of being in the top-10. We've already beaten a couple of top-10 pairs.” With this result, Jwala and Diju can raise the profile of mixed doubles in India.
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disappointed in front of their home crowd as only one of their three doubles teams on the final day could take the gold. This might the beginning of a fantastic year for them. But the big story for India was the performance of Jwala and Diju, especially given the disappointment in the other events. Saina was upset by Firdasari in the second round, while Arvind Bhat, after a surprisingly easy win over Chetan Anand in the first, fell to P Wacha of Poland after holding match point in the third. Anup Sridhar, on the comeback trail after injury, provided Ng Wei a stiff fight in three games. Jwala said the win over Widianto and Natsir was the result of last year’s trip to Europe, where they played some top pairs, and returned with two titles – Bitburger and the Bulgarian Open. “We’ve never played so many matches against top opposition earlier,” says Jwala. “The mental side plays a big role. When we Indians go on court, we start thinking immediately about the country our opponents come from, you know, like a reflex, we think of China or Indonesia, and we worry unnecessarily.
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Seoul: Jwala Gutta and V Diju’s sensational run at the Korea Open Super Series (January 13 to 18) deserves to be ranked among the best-ever performances by an Indian doubles team, and certainly the best by a mixed doubles pair. For one, they beat the World Champions, Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, in the second round – possibly an unsurpassed event by an Indian mixed doubles pair. The world no.27 pair (they are certain to climb up the rankings) then surprised the eighth seeds, before falling to Thai pair Kunchala and Songphon in the semifinal. The Korea Open in fact served up several surprises – Peter Gade stumped world no.1 Lee Chong Wei in the final – putting a stop to the Malaysian’s successful run which included two titles on the trot – the Masters and the Malaysian Open just the week before the Korea Open. Tine Rasmussen got the better of Pi Hongyan, while Mathias Boe and Chrisitian Mogensen made it a rare day for Denmark by beating Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae in the men’s doubles final. The Koreans returned
and Anup Sridhar in the men's singles, and mixed doubles pair Jwala Gutta and V Diju fell in straight games. Chetan had no answer to former All England champion Peter Gade, as the no.5 Dane made quick work of him 21-7, 21-8. Sridhar, expected to run Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro close, failed to test the second seed in a 21-12, 21-18 result. Jwala and Diju stayed close in the first game of their match against Koo Kien Keat/ Ng Hui Lin of Malaysia, but lost steam in the second, and went down 21-18, 21-14. In the first round, Anup Sridhar, on the road to recovery after an injury-afflicted 2008, scored a comfortable win over former top-10 player Roslin Hashim, 21-17 21-14. Jwala and Diju got past Taipei pair Fang Chieh Min/ Cheng Wen Hsing 21-17, 21-15. Perhaps the most surprising result for the Indians was the loss of Arvind Bhat, who fell tamely to no.14 Simon Santoso, a player he's beaten once before. Bhat fell 21-15, 21-12. Others who joined him on the sidelines included Aditi Mutatkar, who was edged 21-19 in the third game by world no.6 Wang Chen; P Kashyap, Anand Pawar, and the pair of Sanave/ Rupesh Kumar.
Dec '08 - Jan '09
GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
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Arvind finds his match Jiewen-Tan set for mixed doubles
Kuala Lumpur: China's Zhang Jiewen is set to play in the mixed doubles event with husband-to-be Choong Tan Fook or she may opt to become a coach with the Malaysian team next year. The 28year-old, who won the 2004 Olympics women's doubles gold with Yang Wei, will marry the former Malaysian national team's doubles shuttler Tan Fook after playing in the All-China Games in December. Jiewen quit the Chinese national team after crashing out in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics. Currently, the duo from Guangdong are playing as independent players together with Gao Ling/ Wei Yili under sponsorship from Victor. The two pairs played their first international tournament in five months at the Malaysian Open. Jiewen, who was more open about her relationship with Tan Fook since making an announcement for the first time at last year's Malaysian Open, said that she was open to settling down in Malaysia. “After this tournament, I will work on my wedding plans. We have to get the approval around the world from our associations if we are to play in the mixed doubles next year.” Jiewen said that her nine-year stint with the Chinese national team had been a memorable one and attributed her successes to their discipline in the training camp. “All of us in the camp are on court by 7am and at night, we are in bed by 10pm. No one breaks this rule,” she said. “On Thursdays, we lighten up the environment by playing fun games. What I miss most are my friends in the camp.” -The Star, Malaysia
GUTS condoles the death of Finn Kobbero, the most stylish player of his time
World no.23 Arvind Bhat married former Bengal state player Pallavi on Dec 8 at Kolkata. The couple hosted a reception at his hometown Bangalore, which was attended by his teammates and coaches of the academy.
Recession hits Indonesian badminton Jakarta: Economic woes know no bounds, it seems. Even badminton, wildly popular in Indonesia, is feeling the pinch. After being forced to shut down its national training camp last year due to budget shortages, the Indonesian Badminton Association, or PBSI, is limiting the number of players and the length of its training camp in Cipayung, East Jakarta Province. “We still haven’t received our budget allocation for this year,” PBSI head of athletes’ development Lius Pongoh said before the Malaysian SS. “So we have to get on with the training programme with the budget that we have left.” The national camp closed its doors on Nov 13, 2008, and players were sent home or to their respective clubs. Shuttlers competing in the final two Super Series events of the year were forced to pay their own way. New PBSI president Djoko Santoso, elected in November, recently chose his cabinet for his four-year term. That, Lius said, may be the reason why behind budget details are not forthcoming. To deal with the budget constraints, the PBSI has prioritized the 22 athletes taking part in the Malaysian Open and the Korean Open. The prioritized shuttlers will stay in the training camp throughout 2009, and PBSI will decide how many more players will join the camp in February. -The Jakarta Globe Printed & Published by Thomas J. Kunnath. P4, KSSIDC Industrial Area, Mahadevapura, Bangalore - 560 048. Printed at National Printing Press, Koramangala, Bangalore-560 095. Email: thomas@kunnath.in