ia l Sp ec nd En gl a
Al l Vol. 1. No. 5
INSIDE
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Editorial Chen Jin - Profile
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Tine Rasmussen Exclusive interview Postcard from Europe
For Private Circulation Only
March 2008
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Editorial... I had the good fortune of attending the All England this year, and I must say, with my limited experience, that this is the best tournament in the world. This is not just because it has tradition behind it, but because the organisers consider every detail important. A small example is the lighting of the hall during the final. Except the lights focusing on the action, all the other lights are switched off – thus heightening the drama. Any theatreperson can speak on the importance of lighting, but even top international tournaments haven’t taken it seriously enough. What impressed me most – and I think there’s a lesson in this for us – was the age of the volunteers and officials. Nearly every one of them was above 65, and yet, they performed their duty with great energy. There is a feeling in our society that we are past our sell-by date when we turn 60. I saw people in their 80s and 90s turn up for matches – some even with the help of walking sticks and crutches! Yet another aspect of the All England (and perhaps of all tournaments in Europe) is that players are not hounded like they are in Asia. Even the usually uptight Chinese were relaxed, unlike in Asia, where they are subjected to such intense barracking by the non-Chinese, that they refuse to speak to the media. The crowd was respectful of the players, but they weren’t overawed, and neither did they heckle them. Adrian Christy, CEO of Badminton England, has initiated a ‘100-point programme’ with the 2012 London Olympics in view. It would be worth our while to examine Badminton England’s schemes and adopt some of them according to our requirements. badmintonmania@gmail.com
BQ Check your Badminton Quotient Name the player whose record Lin Dan would have equalled if he had won the 2008 All England. SMS your answers to 9844546292
Answer to last edition's BQ: Icuk Sugiarto, whose son Tommy is one of Indonesia's promising players.
March 2008
Chen Who? The men’s singles final was disappointing as there were doubts about whether Lin Dan was really injured. But who is Chen Jin, the latest All England champion? It was only after Chinese coach Li Yongbo admitted in a recent interview that the 2004 Athens Olympics women’s singles semifinal was decided beforehand, that our darkest suspicions were confirmed. Lin Dan limped around against Chen Jin and handed him the title. Few were fooled – with the Beijing Olympics coming up, the 22-year-old Chen needs ranking points. Just a week later, Lin took the Swiss Open without showing any signs of his injury. What a pity that the marquee match of the world’s greatest tournament thus had a cloud over it. The damage to the game has been incalculable. Any match featuring questionable contests remains in the viewer’s mind. Rudy Hartono’s 1980 World Championship final against Liem Swie King is one such match. And what does the world know about the All England champion? Chen’s celebrations were so muted that they were not even worthy of a front-page photograph, and the 22-year-old muttered inaudibly after the match. So who is Chen Jin? Chen is a common enough name in his country, while Jin means 'gold' in his native tongue, and the shy world no.4 did come up with a golden performance. If it had been an even contest we could have seen Chen’s real capabilities. Lin Dan has been so much in the spotlight, having won every major title several times over, that the others are just secondary actors in the show. Their role is to smoothen his ride to the title. Not much is known, therefore, about these bit players, although, with rankings in the top 10 of the world, they are among the finest in the game. Chen plays a game typical of that country – all-out attack, big jump smashes, solid defence, and quick lunges that help him cover the court. His progress has been meteoric. Taking to the game when he was nine, it was five years later that he became junior national champion. The inspiration was Sun Jun, the 1999 World Champion, who is also from his home province Heibei. Ranked 94 after winning two of the smaller international tournaments in 2004, Chen shot up to no.40 in early January the next year. He wasn't getting past the pre-quarters of the major tournaments,
and it was only at the Malaysian Open in mid-2005 that he made his first major quarterfinal. Since then, the graph has rocketed. His first big title came at the German Open in early 2006, and consolidated that with a title at his home China Masters. The two wins helped him crack the top-10 in April 2006, and he hasn't looked back. From 94 to 10 in less than two years – when he was barely out his teens – is a remarkable achievement on any count, in any sport. At the All England, he made his way quietly through a tough draw. He thrashed World Championships runner-up Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the quarters, and handed a similar punishment to the man most likely to upset the Chinese applecart, world no.2 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, in the semis. ''I knew I had my chances, going into the final,'' he continued, ''He has always beaten me in tournaments, but I have won a few practice games. I decided to enjoy the experience of being in the final. I wasn't mentally strong earlier, and would allow my opponents to get back. I used to get nervous on big points. This time I held my nerve.'' After he clinched the All England on his fourth match point, the youngster showed no emotion, no sign that he had won the premier prize. ''Lin Dan is my senior,'' he said. ''It would have been rude to celebrate.'' Perhaps Li Yongbo, along with the rest of his instructions, should have told him to smile after winning the All England.
March 2008
GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
Beijing Beckons
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All England champion Tine Rasmussen opens up to Dev S Sukumar on her game, the Chinese, and life off the court TINE RASMUSSEN’S defeat of Lu Lan in the women’s singles final of the All England is the fillip badminton was looking for. In a tournament blighted by question marks over the legitimacy of the contest for the men’s singles title, Rasmussen showed the qualities of a champion as she floored Zhu Lin, the world champion, and their young star Lu Lan. Rasmussen’s win will hopefully trigger off renewed interest in Europe, and lead to a fresh bunch of contenders in the women’s events. The Dane is a thoughtful, friendly type who doesn’t hesitate to talk about her professional or personal side. She is 28; but has no regrets of not having discovered her potential earlier. “I had to finish my studies,” she told this correspondent. “''One needs to have a career outside badminton. Otherwise, it's too big a risk. So once I completed my studies, I began devoting more time to the game.” The cosmetologist loves to read, watch movies, and spend time with her boyfriend and his children. At 28, she challenges the notion that players need to peak by their mid-twenties. Rasmussen started playing full-time only at 20, after she finished school. She suffered a big setback when she hurt her Achilles' tendon when she was 25, and had to take six months off. She finished a degree as a cosmetologist last year, and that's when the graph took off. ' What’s most impressive about the Dane is her confidence. On the day before the final, she shrugged off the possibility of pressure getting to her. “Not anymore,” she said. “In the beginning it was difficult, but I’m playing my own game, and my style is different, so it’s difficult even for them. I haven’t done anything different, in terms of my training. It’s mainly mental – earlier it was a relief to beat them, but when I did it consistently, I got very confident.” The Dane plays a masculine, hustling game, where she uses her 6ft frame and long reach to good effect. So devastating were her smashes that the World Champion, Zhu Lin, was left shocked and a mere shadow of the girl who’d taken the world title in August. Rasmussen is unafraid to attack the lines, and although
her footwork looks ungainly, she gets into position quickly with her long strides. But the biggest gain has been in the mind. The Japan Open last year was the beginning – where she beat three Chinese and two others of Chinese origin on her way to the title. In January this year she took the Malaysian Open, again upsetting the world’s best players, and suddenly it became apparent that this was one player capable of destroying the Chinese dream of sweeping the gold medals at Beijing. “I think they’ll come back,” she said. You don't have to play the best ever. You can play normal, you can make mistakes, but you know you can still beat them
“But it’s nice that players from different countries are in the (All England) semifinal. When I beat them at the Japan Open, and Wong Mew Choo beat them at the China Open, everybody else started believing. Earlier they were 4-5 points ahead just because they were Chinese. But now we don’t give them that advantage.” ''We've showed they are not unbeatable. We've beaten them in finals. I think everybody's confident after these two wins. The confidence has been a big factor. It's all about believing you can beat them -you don't have to play the best ever. You can play normal, you can make mistakes,
but you know you can still beat them. It's not that I've been doing anything differently, it's purely mental." The final was the contest of the tournament. Rasmussen rode roughshod over Lu Lan in the first game, her big smashes and delectable cross net-shots finding no response from the Chinese. In the second, fortunes shifted dramatically as Lu Lan controlled the net, and errors crept into the Dane’s game. Her net-shots, with which she had caught Lu Lan consistently, were off the mark, and suddenly the match was one game all. In the third Rasmussen surged to an early lead of 10-3, but Lu caught up at 12. It was tight again until Rasmussen again went ahead 19-16, getting two match points at 20-18. Lu fought back by forcing errors from the Dane, but Rasmussen again brought in her smash just when it seemed the momentum had swung. “In the first game I didn’t have any nerves, but she seemed nervous, and that’s why I was able to win it easily. In the second she settled down, and started playing her best, and it got difficult to keep up. In the third, the pressure started affecting her. I went ahead 10-3, but she caught up with me. It’s happened in other matches too, but I’ve won from those situations. It wasn’t fun, though. It was tough.” “On the first two match points, I was already thinking of the title and got nervous,” she said. “I usually don’t, but you want to make it happen. On the third match point I was more focussed, and that’s the way it should be."
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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton
March 2008
Postcard from Europe
Bowled over by the All England centre had posters of Lin Dan. The council had also assigned volunteers who were exceptionally helpful. There was just a token Indian presence in the stands, but they were all avidly cheering for Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal. Anup was unlucky to run into Lin Dan in the first round, but he gave an excellent account of himself by taking the first game. The World Champion seemed unable to respond to the Indian’s precise depth and sharp half-smashes, but he dramatically turned things around in the second game. He later admitted, after the final, that Anup had been his toughest opponent in the draw. Saina Nehwal pushed world no.20 Yu Hirayama close in the first round. "I've been falling behind early in the third game," she said. "That's become a pattern. I don't know why it happens." Birmingham is a charming little city of pretty brick cottages, well spaced out amidst plenty of greenery. The population is estima ted to be around 1,000,000 (in 2006), with a sizeable Asian presence. The All England attracts full-house crowds on semifinal and final days, and this is largely attributed to the ethnic diversity of the city – with Indonesians, Chinese and even Indian players finding support.
Chetan Anand fell to Olympics silver medalist Shon Seung Mo, while Arvind Bhat fell in an epic battle to Gong Weijie of China 18-21, 21-19, 21-19, both in the qualifying draw. Jwala Gutta/ Shruti Kurien were dismissed 3 and 9 by Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen in the first round.
The National Indoor Arena provides a fit setting to the All England. Built next to a waterway, the NIA has hosted a staggering variety of events – right from rock climbing, music concerts and operas, to even kabaddi contests! With a seating of 10,000, it is one of Europe's finest venues. Indeed, most former players believe the NIA is a better venue for the All England than Wembley Arena, where the All England was played from 1957 until 1993. When I landed in Birmingham I was quite disappointed by the lack of public awareness of the All England. There seemed to be no advertisement, no 'buzz in the air', as would have been the case in India if an event of such proportions were being held. Newspapers, especially the national dailies, ignored the event. But while the All England seemed almost invisible in the media, there was a good live audience, and the numbers kept increasing each day. England's doubles pair of Gail Emms/ Nathan Robertson kept up the local interest by entering the semis, and even though fans were disappointed after their exit, the last day saw a full house. Part of the success of the All England is due to the Birmingham City Council, which involved itself in the organisation of the tournament. Although the event seemed so lowprofile, I noticed later that the city
PHOTOS COURTESY BADMINTONPHOTO.COM Next issue: Part-2 of National Coach Pullela Gopichand’s interview and Vimal Kumar’s column. 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