PSCB shuttlers set to dominate Nationals

By Rakesh Rao

JAIPUR, JAN. 31. On Monday, during Petroleum Sports Control Board's awards function in New Delhi, its secretary and former Asian badminton champion Dinesh Khanna reeled off PSCB's exploits at the National level.

No doubt, numerous individual and team titles were claimed by those donning the PSCB colours in the past three years. But what remained unsaid was the fact that in quite a few disciplines, PSCB's triumph remains a foregone conclusion since it employs the best and leaves very little for the rest.

Badminton is one such discipline where PSCB virtually monopolises the National titles. What else can one expect when the National team plays under an institution's banner. Some more titles will be added to the list of PSCB's conquests when the National badminton championship opens here on Thursday. Certainly, considering the opposition, there is really nothing for the PSCB to gloat over.

P. Gopi Chand, the World No. 6 and four-time National champion, heads the men's team which includes Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Sidharth Jain and the doubles combination of Jaseel P. Ismail and Vincent Lobo. Even the absence of left-handed Nikhil Kanetkar, still grappling with fitness problems, is not going to affect PSCB's chances in any way.

The women's challenge is headed by three-time winner Aparna Popat, who is in the company of former champions Manjusha Kanwar and P.V.V. Lakshmi. In short, there is no real challenge for the PSCB teams on way to retaining the men's Rahimatullah Cup and women's Chaddha Cup.

After gaining affiliation from the Badminton Association of India in 1999, it was at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium court here that PSCB qualified for the Nationals by topping the Central Zone ahead of Railways and Air India. The PSCB shuttlers return to the same venue to defend the titles won at Kochi last year.

Coming to the individual events, it is futile to look beyond Gopi for the men's title. In the past year, Gopi has posted some truly memorable results to reach his career-high ranking. No Indian looks even remotely close to stretching a motivated Gopi. In fact, Gopi is looking ahead to the All England championship in March, hoping to be seeded for the first time in the game's most prestigeous competition.

Sachin Ratti, who won the Railways Open last year, PSCB's Sidharth Jain, last year's finalist Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Chetan Anand, are seeded in that order behind Gopi. Of the lot, Gupta has had a good run in the major tournaments and should cruise along merrily to justify his billing. The complete draw was under preparation and should be ready on Thursday morning.

The competition promises to be more interesting in the women's section. Though Aparna begins as a favourite, she cannot afford to take things for granted. In December, Aparna had a narrow escape against Manjusha in the final of the Syed Modi memorial tournament at Lucknow. Aparna's 11-9, 9-11, 11-9 victory had given Manjusha enough reasons to believe that her younger rival was clearly not invincible.

With such a background, Manjusha, who is seed to meet Aparna in the final, can be expected aim higher. Still, given Aparna's track record, it will be interesting to watch who blinks first, should they face each other in the title-clash.

In the doubles, second seeds Jaseel P. Ismail and Vincent Lobo will be keen to regain the title they lost last year to Markose Bristow and Vijaydeep Singh, the top seeds here. In the women's doubles, the evergreen Madhumita Bisht, who has defied age and injuries, will be keen to enlarge her list of National titles when she defends the crown in the company of Lakshmi. Even in mixed doubles, Madhumita and Lobo look capable of doing better than their second seeding.

The quarterfinal line-up (team championship): Men: PSCB v Banks' Sports Board, Uttar Pradesh v Air-India, Maharashtra v Delhi, Assam v Kerala; Women: PSCB v LIC, Delhi v Maharashtra, West Bengal v Railways, Assam v Andhra Pradesh.

Main draw qualifiers:

Men's singles: Aneesh K. A. (Ker), Mayur Ghatnekar (Rlys), J. V. Martin (Tamil Nadu), Nishad Dravid (Mah), Mitesh Hazarnis (Rlys), Major Singh Kundi (Guj), Rudra Kaushik (Chd) and Rupesh Kumar (Ker).

Women's singles: Kranti Sane (Mah) and Sudpta Roy (Ben).

Men's doubles: Rupesh Kumar (Ker) & Arvind Bhatt (Kar), K. Srinivas & A. Mohammad Ali (AP), Sukhvinder & Satwinder (Har) & Davinder Dhillon & Praveen Gehlawat (Del).

Women's doubles: Tanuja Begam (Rlys) & Fatima N. R. (AI).

The seedings:

Men's singles: 1. P. Gopi Chand (PSCB), 2. Sachin Ratti (Rlys), 3. Sidharth Jain (PSCB), 4. Abhinn Shyam Gupta (PSCB), 5. Chetan Anand (PSCB), 6. Sanave Thomas (Ker), 7. Abhishek Bakshi (Air India), 8. Anuj Gupta (Guj), 9. D. Guruprasad (Kar), 10. Thomas Kurien (Ker), 11. Arub Baidya (Ben), 12. Madhur Kalia (Rlys), 13. Srikant Bakshi (Rlys), 14. Abhijit Naimpalli (BSB), 15. J. B. S. Vidyadhar (Rlys), 16. Joy T. Anthony (Ker).

Women's singles: 1. Aparna Popat (PSCB), 2. Manjusha Kanwar (PSCB), 3. P.V.V. Lakshmi (PSCB), 4. B. R. Meenakshi (Kar), 5. Divya Ramesh (BAI), 6. Parul Priyadarshini (AI), 7. Trupti Murgunde (AI), 8. Ketaki Thakkar (AI), 9. G. Jwala (AP), 10. Sampada Shetye (Rlys), 11. Shruti Kurien (AP), 12. Leena Pednekar (LIC), 13. Nupura Bhide (Mah), 14. Krupa Telang (Mah), 15. Swati Moghe (Guj), 16. Neelima Chaudhary (PSCB).

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Section  : Sport
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