Indian squad laid low by illness

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, APRIL 20. The Indian badminton squad for the Thomas Cup final round, suffered a setback even before leaving for Kuala Lumpur where the event will be held from May 12. Four players of the team, which is in a very tough group, are on the sick list and they will miss the championships. However, BAI has made suitable replacements.

Abhin Shyam Gupta, who along with Gopi Chand helped India qualify for the final round, will not make it to Kuala Lumpur as he is nursing an ankle injury after returning from the European Circuit tour.

Abhin Shyam Gupta missed the ongoing Thomas Cup camp in Bangalore. Three other players, who did not make it to the camp are Vincent Lobo, Jose George and Ajit Wijetilak. Lobo was down with jaundice, while the other two were laid low with typhoid. Ajit Wijetilak also recently underwent a minor surgery after his return from Europe.

Mr. S.M.Arif, the chief coach, told The Hindu that the BAI has made adequate changes to bolster the team. ``Sure we will miss them, but we have called in George Thomas, Sachin Ratti and Chetan Anand. They are good enough,'' said Arif.

The nine member squad includes Gopi Chand, Nikhil Kanetkar, Siddarth Jain, Chetan Anand, Sachin Ratti, Markose Bristow, Vijaydeep Singh, George Thomas and Jaseel P.Ismail.

Arif said that the National champion, P. Gopi Chand, who was down with typhoid, last month, has fully recovered now and is training hard. Mr. Arif felt that India, which is in a tough group which features Denmark, Malaysia and South Korea, has the potential to beat Korea in the group.

``I expect Gopi Chand to play at his best and Nikhil Kanetkar is likely to play the second singles. It is the singles, which we are counting on as the other teams have world class doubles combinations and there is nothing much we can do about it. That is the reason, why we may not field, P. Gopi Chand in the doubles as we did in the Delhi championship,'' said Arif.

The coach said the team, in the wake of IBF ban on Aparna Popat, will be thoroughly briefed on the drugs.

``With over 200 substances on the banned list, it is going to be very difficult because all Indian medications, perhaps barring Crocin, have one banned substance or the other. It has now created a situation, where if a player, even if he has severe cold, has to go there and play or opt out.''

He termed the ban on Aparna as unfortunate. ``Playing in Olympics is a one time chance, and Aparna deserved to play, but for the big fall in the ranking following the ban. But she is highly motivated and hard working and will make a good comeback,'' said Arif.

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