GUTS October November 2012

Vol. 3. No. 8 October - November 2012For Private Circulation Only

AnAnd PAwAr‘need to be consistent’:

Zhao Yunlei’s double Leads Chinese sweep at Hong Kong

Editor: Diwakar M., Published by Thomas J Kunnath, P4, KSSIDC Industrial Area, Mahadevapura, Bangalore 560 048. Printed at National Printing Press, Koramangala, Bangalore-560 095. Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Anup: You have a very good record in international tournaments. Many of your peers, Ajay, Kashyap and a few others have not won many tournaments at all..

Anand Pawar: It’s good to win another challenge. I’d like to go one step further and win a Grand Prix and do better on the Super Series stage. Ajay and Kashyap have been performing well at the Super Series tournaments and have had some good wins against higher ranked players which is something all of us need to do consistently.

Anup: You have been around the 40-50 ranking level for some time now. What do you think you need to go to the next level and enter the top 20-25?

Anand Pawar: I’ve had 2 major injuries when my ranking has been high as the 40’s which has made me take a few months off to recover and I had to start again from scratch which has been hard. I feel to get into the top 25 would take some consistent wins against the top 10-20 players in the world. I’ve been losing out some close

matches against the top players and have to learn to convert those losses into wins.

Anup: You have been based in Denmark now for many years. What are the pros and cons of being there?

Anand Pawar: The club structure is very good in Denmark. I get to play all the top players in Denmark in the league team matches which is good and keeps me match fit. Also , the training is different from Asia: they focus more on speed and technique and shorter workouts with high intensity. The cons of living here are being on your own and handling every little aspect of your daily life by yourself which has made me tougher on and off the court. It can get very lonely here with the cold weather.

Anup: During tournaments, there is a lot of down time between matches. Since you can’t go out and do anything too physical as you’re saving yourself for the match, what do you do to pass the time?

Anand Pawar: I just watch a lot of TV shows and movies to keep myself busy during tournaments.

Anand PawarAnand Pawar won the Scottish Open Men’s singles title beating Kazumasa Sakai. The

World number 44 won this tournament for the second time to take his international titles tally to seven, the same as his ranking here. Anand’s perseverance to realise

his dreams has kept him in Denmark, the hub of European badminton, for the last six years training wih his, idol, Morten Frost, and playing for his club Arhus AB. He has been training hard with single-minded devotion, overcoming the formidable winters and the loneliness of a man away from home. His close friend, former national champion and Arjuna awardee Anup Sridhar, interviews him for GUTS.

Song : Diamonds by Rihanna and Let me love you by NE-YO

Movie : The Dark Night rises

Cuisine : I love European food, Continental and Italian. I prefer eating Indian and Chinese during matches

Idol : Morten Frost from Denmark

Gift : I just gifted myself an iPhone 5!

Anup: What are your views on how badminton has changed, especially men’s singles?

Anand Pawar: I don’t think any other country apart from China has as many good Men’s singles players as India does. There are currently 12 Indians in the top 150 who are all capable of beating some of the best players in the world and that speaks very highly of the standard of Men’s singles in India. Everybody is playing the modern game which is fast and aggressive and there are also some really good and talented juniors coming up in the country.

Anup: If you had to live your life over, what would you change in your life with regard to badminton?

Anand Pawar: I’m quite happy with the way things have gone so far. Of course , I would like to have removed the injuries which happened at crucial times in my career when I was doing well. But that’s part of the game and I’m glad I could come back strong after each injury.

Anup: How did Tom John’s coaching help your performance at the Scottish Open?

Anand Pawar: It was great to have someone as experienced as Tom coach me during the matches in Glasgow. His coaching in between games was great and I would like to thank Tom for his support during the tournament.

‘need to be consistent’:

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each of them until he forced the error from the Malaysian. The 21-19 21-17 triumph gave Chen his second straight Superseries title after the China Open.

“No excuses,” said Lee. “Chen Long was more stable today and was relaxed after the Olympics. I didn’t want to play here at first, as I wanted to rest after the wedding. I wasn’t able to play my normal match. I tried my best and didn’t have any target today, so I’m okay with the result.”

His opponent was complimentary in victory. “I have a lot to learn from players like Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei,” said Chen Long. “My biggest target is the World Championships.”

The Women’s Singles final saw No. 2 Li Xuerui take the title over No. 1 Wang Yihan who retired at 21-12 11-3 as she was concerned about her right knee. Wang had been playing with it heavily-strapped throughout the tournament, and said she didn’t want to worsen it.

The first match of the day was a riveting contest between Olympic Women’s Doubles champions Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei and the pair that was disqualified from the Olympics, Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli. The match was the longest of the five finals as the duos traded shot for shot, and it was eventually the composure of the Olympic champions that made the difference. They took the title 22-20 14-21 21-17.

The Mixed Doubles final was expected to be another marathon, pitting Olympic gold medallists, Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei, against the Olympic silver medallists, Xu Chen/Ma Jin. Zhang/Zhao won in London but Xu/Ma were on a hot streak, having won four Superseries in a row. The difference between

dev Sukumar

Zhao Yunlei’s doubleLeads Chinese sweep at Hong Kong

China duly swept the Yonex Sunrise Hong Kong Open today, with Chen Long and Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng

preventing Malaysia from crashing the party.

The Chinese were assured of three gold medals before the start of play as they were all-China affairs. The main questions were

whether No. 2 Chen Long could upstage No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of

Malaysia in the Men’s Singles final, and whether the Olympic champions Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng would be upset by Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong in Men’s

Doubles. As it turned out, both these matches went China’s way in straight games. The other three finals went to the Olympic champions, with Zhao Yunlei claiming another double: Women’s Doubles with Tian Qing and Mixed Doubles with Zhang Nan. Li Xuerui took the Women’s Singles.

Cheng Long upsets Lee Chong Wei

The Men’s Singles final was breath-taking in parts, though not quite living up to expectations. Lee was dominant early on, with his tremendous bursts of speed putting Chen under pressure, but as the match wore on, his rustiness became apparent. Unlike previous encounters between them, it was Chen who started to control the net. The world No. 2 recovered from 10-13 to draw level, and then pulled away, with Lee struggling to keep within reach. Unusually for Lee, his precision was off and he gifted points at crucial moments that helped Chen’s cause.

In the second game, Chen led throughout. Lee attempted to fight his way into the match, but Chen’s swiftness and defence was exceptional. At 8-6 came the rally of the match: Lee played three hairpin net shots, but Chen retrieved Z

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Yun

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Attempting to regain the Hong Kong Open title that she won in 2010,

Saina had a disappointing early exit, losing yesterday in the second round to China’s Wang Lin. Excerpts from an interview following the loss:

What happened?

Too many tournaments. I was a little tired. It happens, it’s a long circuit. Wang Lin has been playing well for a year. She was World Champion before. It’s always tough to play the Chinese. All of them are good, and it’s tough to play them again and again. The last I played her was in 2011, at the Malaysia Open GP Gold. I wasn’t up to the mark today.

In terms of handling losses, have you changed over time?

There’s one more tournament coming up. One win or loss doesn’t go to my head. I have to work hard for each match. Now I have to prepare for the Superseries Finals. There was too much drift in the stadium (Hong Kong Coliseum). The previous stadium was very good. It’s not easy to

Saina Nehwal is a lot more philosophical now. In earlier times, a loss would see her brood for long after the match and she would be inconsolable. These days, she seems to get back to her normal self quickly. The Olympic medal – a long-sought dream – has helped her contextualise the other performances, and she knows she can’t be at her best through the year.

the two sides was Zhao Yunlei. Despite having played her Women’s Doubles final earlier, the Olympic champion dominated the net against her opposite number Ma Jin. So steady was she at the forecourt that even the usually unflappable Ma Jin succumbed and the Olympic champions won in straight games, 21-17 21-17.

“I’m used to playing two events, so it was not a problem,” Zhao said, of winning two titles. “Even though we didn’t train much after the Olympics, I wasn’t particularly tired today.”

The final match of the tournament was Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng against Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong. The Malaysians started off promisingly, with a 10-4 lead, but the Chinese worked their way back through consistent big hitting. The Malaysians were brilliant and erratic by turns, thus unable to sustain the momentum after a hard-won point. They enjoyed a good spell late in the second game when they were down 10-17 – they lifted the shuttle and invited Fu and Cai to breach their defence, and they did return those thunderbolts to frustrate the Chinese briefly.

However, the deficit was too large to overcome, and they will rue a few missed chances. Upon converting match point, an excited Cai threw his racket in the air and stripped his shirt off. The 21-16 21-17 victory secured, the world and Olympic champions had helped China to a comprehensive rout of the opposition.

Earlier, India’s badminton star Saina Nehwal

crashed out in the second round, going down 19-21, 15-21 to China’s Wang Lin. The world number 61 brushed aside the yawning gap in rankings, putting up a doughty show to outsmart Saina on both flanks as well as the net and winning the opening game narrowly at 21-19. Saina had her back to the wall, trailing 6-11 in the second game as Wang surged ahead in pursuit of glory in a contest that lasted 37 minutes.

L to R: Xu Chen, Ma Jin, Zhao Yunlei & Zhang Nan

handle the shuttle here, it’s too fast.

While playing in Asia, how do you find the Chinese crowd reacting to you?

The crowd hardly makes a difference. I’ve been playing for so many years now, I’m used to it. I know if I’m not fit, I can’t handle the Chinese players. If I’m fit I can handle any of them. Before the tournament, I knew I wasn’t 100 per cent fit. It’s not easy at this level. With the (knee) injury too… it’s not easy to perform well. The (right) knee is not fully all right. (But) I have to defend a lot of points. My next break is in January, after the Malaysia Open. Then I will think of doing something for the knee.

You were nearly flawless while winning the Denmark Open in October…

I played very well. It was all perfect, everything was falling into place. I can’t continuously win all tournaments. Here, I knew wouldn’t do so well… There were too many things to do after Olympics. I was in Lucknow, then Aligarh… too many functions. I couldn’t say no to those functions.

A different Saina

Saina Nehwal

when we are in season, or we would’ve said we’d wait.

What was it that made them so good?

They were much better than us. They were much faster. I was seven kilos overweight. During the season, that (extra weight) would disappear. I was out of practice, no shuttle control or anything. The problem was we played in Copenhagen, in Odense, in Aarhus and in Aarlborg.

We played every second day, and we couldn’t improve, and we were the laughing stock of Denmark. And then we said, you come back in season, then we will try to beat you. They never came back. It took seven years before they came back again. I couldn’t understand the politics of it – why did they come, and why did they disappear?

You cannot be at the peak all year round. We were very low at the time, and they were at their best.

Was it only the speed that made the difference?

They played an entirely different game. The speed was their main aim. They were very very good. I think they had trainers from Indonesia. They didn’t come out of China until they were good enough to match the rest of the world. I can’t remember who I had played. But they were very very fast.

Do you think you could’ve beaten them when you were at your best?

I don’t know. We would have liked the Chinese to be at the All England, but they didn’t come. We didn’t play each other when we were both at our best.

The aura of Chinese invincibility in badminton began in 1965 with a tour of Denmark. Until then, nobody

had seen the Chinese in action. The Danes, including legendary names such as Erland Kops and Finn Kobbero, expected an easy encounter as they were told the visitors were still picking up the game.

Imagine the Danes’ surprise when they lost all 24 of their singles matches to a bunch of players with astonishing speed and an unusual style!

You were badly beaten by the Chinese on their debut tour. What happened?

Yes, when I was more or less stopping the game. They only came once, and then they disappeared. They came back seven years later.

It was a very bad experience. In the old days there used to be a season. At the end of the season was the All England, which was at the time at the end of March. Then during April, May, June, July and August, we didn’t play badminton. I played tennis and handball

and things like that. Then we’d usually start sometime end of August or September.

During the summer, we were contacted by our association who asked if we would play some friendly matches against the Chinese team. We’d never encountered the Chinese before. And even though it was out of season, we said okay. We were told they were at the same level as the Russians, and the Russians were no problem, so we didn’t really prepare for them. And then we met them the first time in Copenhagen, and all of us – Finn (Kobbero), Hammergard

(Hansen), all of us were very, very badly beaten. They nearly made a laughing stock of us. We weren’t happy, because we felt our association hadn’t told us the truth. If we had known that they were so good, we would either have said no way, we can do it

‘why did they come,and why did they disappear?’

Erland Kops, seven-time All England singles winner, tells our correspondent Dev S Sukumar of that

unhappy chapter in his career

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>6 October - November 2012

Erland Kops (Left)

Access to sport is a much-talked about subject in India, but until we’ve seen other nations, it’s hard to imagine

what real access means. As far as planners in India are concerned, there is no need to reinvent the wheel – other countries, both in Europe and Asia, have developed models that can be followed.

When Europe is mentioned, the first objection that ensues is that India’s scale is different. Europe’s lesser numbers and greater resources apparently give it a greater advantage over India, and there is something in that line of argument. After all, catering to the needs of 191,610 people in Odense, Denmark’s third largest city, is far easier than catering to the needs of Bangalore’s 9.58 million.

That is where we can profitably learn from other Asian examples. Take Hong Kong, for instance. With a total population of 7.03 million, and a population density of 6,540 in every square kilometre, we can draw some parallels with Bangalore (population density: 4,378 per sq km).

I visited a few government-run sports halls in Hong Kong, and was stunned by their scale and standard of maintenance. There is not a single hall – private or state-run – in the whole of Bangalore that can compare with their sports halls. Perhaps there are just a couple of stadiums in India that might come close, such as the Shiv Chattrapathi Stadium in Balewadi – but that is hardly accessible to the public. The government website lists – hold your breath – 568 badminton courts across Hong Kong. And that’s only badminton. Five hundred and sixty-eight courts!

How does Hong Kong, with one of the highest population densities in the world

dev Sukumar

and costly real estate, manage to run many well-maintained halls?

Most government departments must have a sports hall in their premises. With the government owning many buildings across the city, and with most of these buildings having sports halls (and some have impressive gyms, running tracks and swimming pools as well), the problem of access is immediately tackled. A government booklet lists 24 state-run sports facilities for sports as varied as badminton, basketball, horse riding, tai chi, archery, golf, athletics, table tennis, squash and various kinds of water sports. Each hall might accommodate anything between four and eight badminton courts. Add that to the number of private halls in the city, and one begins to see how easy it is for anybody to walk into a stadium to play.

How expensive is sport? Booking a badminton court costs 69 Hong Kong Dollar, which is the equivalent of Rs 60 (direct conversion doesn’t make sense

because the cheapest meal costs 30 Hong Kong Dollar, similar to our Rs 30). If you play doubles, that cost is reduced by a fourth. The government generates money because people are encouraged to play, and sport has become a way of life.

At one court, an Indian friend pointed to a Chinese family on an adjacent court. “Playing badminton is considered family activity,” he said. “Chinese families play badminton together, so it helps them bond.” Badminton has assumed a social dimension that I hadn’t thought of before.

Why have countries across the world invested in sports infrastructure? Because they realise that sport is, apart from its obvious health benefits, the one activity that can distract the mind from other mischief. In Denmark, investment in sport is considered a saving in healthcare. In a recessionary economy, sport becomes an important activity that can prevent a spiral into violence.

How long before our administrators realise the same?

How they do it in Hong Kong

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The 37th Junior National Badminton Championships 2012 was held in Imphal from 10th to 18th November

2012. The lovely state is a veritable gold mine so far as sporting talent is concerned. Mary Kom has left an indelible impression on the sporting psyche of India with her sterling performance in the London Olympics and there is a resurgent interest in sports here, especially boxing. However, the state of the massive sporting infrastructure - put in place by the government for the 1999 National Games - is deplorable.

This edition of the Junior Nationals could be called Rutvika’s own as the talented girl from Khammam won a triple crown, annexing the Under-17 & Under-19 Girls’ Singles and the Under-19 Girls’ Doubles. Resently Rutvika’s fitness has improved and she proved it by coming through three tough three-setters against Rituparna Das in the Under-17 semis and against Reshma Karthik in both the Under -19 semis and the Under-17 finals. Partnering Poorvisha, Ritvika won the Junior Doubles as well, emerging winners without dropping a set.

In the Junior Boys event, the stage was set for an intriguing tussle among, Rohit Yadav, Pratul Joshi - the top two Under-17-year olds - Harsheel Dani and Aditya Joshi and the mercurial Shreyansh Jaiswal who had scalped defending champ Saurav Verma in the Senior nationals.

In the singles, Ketan Chahal upset the top seed, Rohit Yadav, in a three-setter. Dark horse Shreyansh, hampered by injury, fell prey to Sudanshu Medsikar in the second round. The tall, reed-like Harsheel Dani packs quite a punch in his smashes and pounces on weak returns at the net. In the semi-finals, his effortless movement and ability to get opportune net cords, added

the finals. The Under 17 Boys’ Doubles was won by Sanyam Shukla and Gangadhar Rao who are already a force to reckon with in the Under 19 category already.

Undisputed favourites Gopi Raju and Hemanagendra Babu won the Boys’ doubles title without much ado beating second seeds Shlok Ramachandran (MAH) & Shyam Prasad (KER). The mixed doubles title went to Hemanagendra and Meghana who beat Gopi Raju and Poorvisha S Ram. All the three doubles events lack competition when compared to the Singles events and this will continue to worry the national coaches.

While the tournament provided thrills and drama aplenty, the conduct of the event was pretty much a disaster. It was a case of another Junior Nationals gone by, given the sad way the tournament was held and the way the players were looked after. It was noble of BAI to allot the championships to Imphal to help develop the game there along with a munificent grant of 25.00 lakhs. But, needless to say, it was also BAI’s responsibility to ensure that the championships are conducted in a fairly decent manner. Sadly, the event fell sadly short of being called well conducted.

The strict time line stipulated for national level tournaments has been in currency for the last 4 years and over the years there has been remarkable standardisation in the way entries have been accepted, draws have been prepared etc. Alas, the progress made in these vital areas of tournament conduct has been put back by several years going by the way the last few national tournaments were held. All players, coaches and parents are miffed by the unprofessional way the states send entries, draws are redrawn, timelines are violated etc. Hope BAI is aware of this and will take corrective action.

to his power and anticipation, came to his rescue in his three set win over fancied Pratul, a precocious talent himself. On the other side of the draw, Aditya Joshi survived a scare in the quarters when Arun George fell just short when his come-back stalled at 19-21 in the third set.

In the Under-17 Singles, two talented youngsters, Rahul Yadav and Siril Verma,

came up with sterling performances to reach the semis. The organisers inexplicably scheduled both the Boys’ Singles finals, which pitted Harsheel and Aditya against each other, for the morning of the finals.

In a thrilling Under-17 final, after splitting the first two games, Harsheel seemed to have defended his title when he served 20-16. Aided by a series of minute errors from Harsheel, a fighting Aditya hung on grimly to etch a memorable win at 28-26 in the third, having saved a total of six match points.

The boys met once again after a gap of an hour for the Junior finals. Understandably, the match lacked the punch and drama of the earlier one and a visibly shattered Harsheel stared down the barrel at 6-11 in the decider. However, it was Aditya’s turn to take his foot off the pedal. A charged up Harsheel reeled off point after point to win 21-17 to bag the bigger of the titles at stake. A proud and elated Uday Pawar hugged a drained Harsheel for his great work in the morning.

Farha Mather and Shruti K P achieved a very significant victory in the Under 17 Girls Doubles when they toppled heavy favourites Reshma Karthik and Sanjana Santhosh in

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M a i n s p o n s o rE q u i p m e n t S p o n s o r

Chief Coach:

www . to m s b a d m i n to n a c a d e my . c o m | P h : 9 8 4 5 0 2 7 8 7 8 , 9 0 3 5 3 9 0 3 4 6

T.r. Balachandran

Junior nationals 2012

Rutvikatriple Crownfor

Harsheel dani and Aditya Joshi Split Singles titles

>8 October - November 2012

Tushar Karani, who is fighting along with other parents against the overage fraud, says, “Wish you all a very happy new year. I hope the fight against the fraud comes to an end in the coming year. If an exclusive committee is put together to end this menace - and if it is fair and just - children will get to play with players in their own age group.” Then he has his own doubts, “ When will all this come to an end? Will BAI take steps to fight against this? Has any committee been appointed to scrutinise the over age players at the National Games, U 13-15 in Patna. Why is BAI turning a blind eye to these activities? Are any members involved in this scam and are they benefitting indirectly? We request the BAI to streamline this issue and take stern action against these violators”.

“In Indore, BAI official Ajay Sighania visited the Sub-Junior tournament. Parents met with him along with the chief referee on two issues – seeding and overage. The seeding issue was discussed with the concerned officials and sorted out. For the overage problem, Ajay Sighania called two players, one of whom turned up and the other did not even after being called more than three times. The player in question was asked to produce his age certificate, which he could not. Ajay Sighania has promised the parents that he will put the matter seriously to the board. It has been over a month is over and there is no news. The players who committed fraud by misquoting their age participated in the Sub-Junior Nationals”.

still haunts junior events ‘Overage’ menace

Who will bell the cat?

The following was a portion of the circular issued by BAI in

connection with the Under 17 & Under 19 tournaments in Ernakulam (2nd to 7th July) and Hyderabad (1st to 6th August).”

PROTEST

11.1 The fees for lodging protest of any kind shall be Rs. 1000/-. However the protest fee for Medical shall be 5000/- and refundable if it is valid. Medical test will be as par Govt. Guidelines. This fee shall be retained by the organizers of the event. Any protest shall be addressed to the Org. Secretary in writing within one hour after completion of the match.

One has to read between the lines and one hoped that it meant that on payment of a protest fees of Rs. 5,000/- a medical test as per Govt. guidelines would be conducted on the player protested against and if the player was found overage, the money would be refunded to the protester. The grey areas were:

1. When and where the test would be conducted

2. Whether “valid” meant that the player was over the category in which he participated or over his declared age as per BAI records

3. What was the punishment intended for players found overage

In all, it is understood that three parents protested against three players during these two tournaments and paid the prescribed fee. After almost four to

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five months, nothing has been done about these protests and some of these players represented India in international tournaments and also in the Junior Nationals held in Imphal in November. The purpose of the parents was to ensure that these players(if overage) do not stand in the way of genuinely talented children who do not resort to age violation in the forthcoming tournaments. This genuine attempt to secure justice by parents has been defeated by the callous attitude of BAI. It is sad that the relatively newly constituted BAI is also following the path of their predecessors by turning a Nelson’s eye to this age old problem. We learn that the newly formed association of Badminton parents are contemplating legal action if the protest fees are not refunded immediately.

We wish better sense will prevail in BAI and firm and definite action will henceforth be taken from the next season at least. There are many ways to tackle it and it is not difficult if there is a will. All the top ranked players in all categories could be called for medical age verification at accredited SAI labs and punishments could be meted out to the guilty ones. Compulsory age verification could be insisted on players who are selected to represent the country. These measures are quick fix solutions which go on to prove that most of the state Badminton Associations are not doing the very basic job of ensuring the authenticity of the age records submitted by their players.

By T.R.Balachandran

An open letter to the President, BAI

October - November 2012 >9

Any visit to Jakarta is a must for a Badminton player or coach. Despite the recent failure of Indonesians to

hold on to their decades-long supremacy, Badminton is the game to play in this balmy, crowded metro. Youngsters, Lakshya Sen (Uttarakhand), Karthikey (Delhi) and Rahul Bharadwaj (KTK), all trainees of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy attended a month long camp in Tangerang, close to Jakarta from 21st October to 17th November 2012.

Training was arranged at Atik Jauhari’s Badminton Centre. Atik was India’s National coach for about three years leading up to the Commonwealth Games 2010. The legendary Atik has been a top notch International player in Indonesia till an unfortunate on-court mishap affected his vision and prevented him from realising his potential as an international champion. He took up coaching with gusto and I remember his visit to Kottayam, Kerala as coach of the visiting Indonesian team in 1980. Atik combined with his protégé, a young Icuk Sugiarto to lift the Men’s Doubles title in that invitation event which had truly international class opposition. Atik had professed that Icuk would be the next World Champion, a prophecy which came true in 1983 when a fighting Icuk downed the poster boy of Indonesian Badminton

Liem Swie King in a thriller.

Unfortunately, Atik Sir could not be around as he was away in Milan with the Italian National team. Yusuf Jauhari, his younger brother took care of us during the entire duration of our training at the Gedung Bulutangkis Atik Jauhari. Yusuf Sir has among his trainees such Badminton luminaries like Candra Wijaya, Mia Audina, Ronald Susilo et al and can still pack a punch in his smashes. The Atik Jauhari Centre has five Badminton Courts, a pro-shop and change rooms. The centre is open to club level players for daily practice on payment and competitive players from all over the world come and train there throughout the year.

Our accommodation was arranged at Atik Sir’s house itself and his car ferried us to the stadium and back twice daily. Atik Sir’s wife Mme Titi Neng was also a national level player and she took very good care of the boys in a warm, truly Indonesian way. The Jauharis have four children who have all played Badminton at a high level. The youngest, Annas who is an international doubles player helped in the coaching and went out of his way to make our stay most comfortable. The Jauharis, being familiar with India and used to hosting players from India, made things extremely smooth for us.

Since our boys were the only ones visiting at that time, they had the advantage of the undivided attention of an extremely experienced coach. Playing in relatively warm environs with very slow shuttles helped their strength as well. Though it was not planned earlier, our boys got to participate in the BNI Astec Indonesia Junior Tournament held from 8th to 13th November. Astec is a sports company run by the famed Olympic Gold medal winning couple Alan Budi Kusuma and Susi Susanto. The boys who already had three international tournaments under their belts coped very well with the competition and came out with flying colours. Lakshya won the Under 13 boys’ singles title winning every one of his matches in two games. Kartik was unfortunate to run into Lakshya in the semis. Rahul lost in the quarters but not before taking out the top seed in the earlier round in a rousing encounter.

The crowd, poverty and heat of Jakarta remind one of Mumbai but traffic is very orderly and people extremely polite in dealing with pedestrians and fellow drivers. The liberal mind-set of the people so far as religion, dress etc is matters of amusement to any visiting Indian. Jakarta abounds in very good coaching centres which are not averse to taking foreign players under their wings at competitive rates.

by Balachandran

A report from the cradle of world Badminton

>10 October - November 2012Que

stions

: Q1. How many times has Anand Pawar won the Scottish Open? a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4

Q2. Whom did Chen Long beat in the Hong Kong Men’s Singles Finals ? a) Lin Dan b) Lee Chong Wei c) Kenichi Tago d) Peter Gade

1 each for the 2 winners-2 Nos



Vishwas SSajit P V

Dilshad KamalAntony Fernando

Gaurav Chauhan, Alwyn PintoChaitra Alankar, Sharon GeorgeParvathi Krishnan

Que

stions

: Q1. How many times has Anand Pawar won the Scottish Open? a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4

Q2. Whom did Chen Long beat in the Hong Kong Men’s Singles Finals ? a) Lin Dan b) Lee Chong Wei c) Kenichi Tago d) Peter Gade




Vishwas SSajit P V

Dilshad KamalAntony Fernando

Gaurav Chauhan, Alwyn PintoChaitra Alankar, Sharon GeorgeParvathi Krishnan

C E N T E R O F E X C E L L E N C E

BADMINTONB A N G A L O R E

Badminton Academy

Location : Whitefield Bangalore Contact for More details : +919880639869 | Email : [email protected]

India’s L E A D I N G

• A team of successful coaches .

• Well organized training program to fit , Basic ,Advance , Elite and National Players .

• Excellent Badminton Infrastructure for off court and on court training .

• Short term and long term residential program (package include boarding and lodging)

• Option of joining icse syllabus school. (admission open for 2013-2014 batch with nominal fees structure for badminton players enrolled )

• Equipment Sponsorship for long term residential players

You beat world No. 1 Wang Yihan last week at the China Open… you’re beating the Chinese consistently now. Is it the approach?

Yes, it’s simply about enjoying, right? Of course it’s always special as Yihan was on home soil. But previous tournaments have been good for me and I try to go my way. I’ve proved in the past that I can beat them. To make it consistent is great to see. There’s no special secret to it.

You’ve shown the path to other women’s singles players?

I think so. In ladies singles there’s such a huge quality of players. And what counts is the daily performance, right? You always have to be on top of your game, and your mental strength. And whatever counts to be on top, and it makes it quite interesting, whether it’s the Japanese or Indians or me or Tine (Baun), whoever is chasing the Chinese, it’s great for the game.

You lost to Saina twice in recent weeks…is there a mental block?

I don’t think it’s a problem, but she played really well in both matches, and the first game was the decider for the whole match. You can see the boost of confidence you get from winning the first set. But never mind…the spirit she’s going on court is really really special, and the thing that’s really top class. I think they (Saina and Ratchanok Intanon) have a different spirit than the Chinese have. And that’s the deciding point right now, and that’s why they’re the same league. And I tend to the same spirit as they have, than to the Chinese. Saina and Ratchanok are really carried on by a special spirit, in my opinion.

With some exciting young players from Japan and Thailand coming up, is women’s singles becoming more open?

Exactly. I think so. It has been proven in the past that it’s already open, but the more open it gets, the better. The last few years have seen different players from different countries, so it’s perfect.

How difficult was it for you to overcome the disappointment of the Olympics?

To be honest, it was a tough time for me, and I’m glad to be who I am on court, and to find myself again. I had a big helping hand from my mental coach, and she gave me back what I have now again, the spirit, and my belief. But you see at some point with some (difficult) emotions, you need help.

What new goals have you set for yourself?

I will just continue playing. The Superseries Finals this year is a goal. And I need to see what different goals I have to set, and what kind of partnership it’s going to be with the association. But right now I’m glad to be here and to be healthy and to perform like this.

What does it mean to be a player on the elite circuit?

It’s always a pleasure, right? To be in touch with different cultures and different people. I always love this part of the sport.

Do you feel a bit bitter that you are not as well known as the tennis players, despite all the hard work?

Yeah, but I think but we are on a good track. Nevertheless, you always have to work for things… the duties which the BWF has, because there are so many talented players, and it’s a fantastic sport, in my opinion. The sport deserves a lot of attention. I hope we can do better in future.

Juliane Schenk‘Saina has a special spirit’:

World No. 4 Juliane Schenk was looking cool and relaxed in the stands after her first-round victory over the potentially-dangerous Tai Tzu Ying of Taipei. Schenk stands out in badminton — she is probably the most forthright of all players, and

expresses herself fully – whether it’s her disappointment with her national association, her opinion about her own form, or about other players in the circuit. A friendly sort as well, she greets me warmly, and readily agrees to an interview. Dev Sukumar

Documents

GUTS October November 2012