The expectations are pretty high

HIGH EXPECTATION is in the air as the Indian team gears up for the challenge in the Sudirman World Cup mixed team competition and the World Championship, which follows, at Seville in Spain this month end. Sudirman Cup gets underway on May 28 and the World championship follows on June 3. The triumph of Pullela Gopi Chand at the All England championship, has no doubt galvanised the team as never before and the Indian display in the Thomas Cup and Commonwealth championship in 1998-99, too have an electrifying effect on the team morale.

But the Sudirman Cup is a different ball game altogether. Its format makes it tough for the Indian team to make a big impact. The event has men's singles, women's singles and three doubles- men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. The accent is on the doubles, which has been the Achilles heel of Indian badminton and so at a disadvantage.

Trying to turn that weakness into strength and get the best out of the available resources is the unenviable task of the coaches, S. M. Arif and Sanjay Sharma, who were slogging out with the squad for the past five weeks at the Karnataka Badminton Association courts here.

Arif has been one of the astute coaches in the country and a veteran of several international campaigns by the Indian squad and Gopi Chand spent his formative years under his tutelage. With his soft spoken ways and paternal attitude towards the players, Arif comes across as an indulgent coach, but he is nevertheless a tough task master who strives to get the best out of his wards. Arif is the right man for Indian badminton's top coaching post.

As the Indian squad prepared to wind up its training schedule at Bangalore, Arif exuded confidence . `` Given the available time, we had done what best we could under the circumstances at the camp'' said Arif. But he did admit that the dice is very much loaded against India, given the format.

Arif said: ``To put it frankly, this is a tough format. We shouldn't be having any problem in the men's singles with Gopi Chand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Siddarth Jain in the ranks, but with Aparna's absence, who is busy writing her B.Com. exams in Mumbai, we are not strong on the distaff side. But we have Manjusha Kanwar, a very determined and experienced player. The main problem however will be the mixed doubles and women's doubles where we have to forge the right combinations''.

Arif felt that India hasn't been doing too badly either.```We moved from 19th spot to 16th in the last championship and we could have topped the group, had we beaten Ukraine. But in few crucial games we lost on extra points. The last event which was held in Denmark was a tough one with sub zero temperatures outside the Stadium'', said Arif.

The team to beat in India's Group will be Hong Kong , asserts Arif. ``This is a strong team which has some good women players and one of them is ranked World No.9 and it will be quite a task. But they are not unbeatable, the other section of the Group III, has teams like Russia and Canada and it should not be a big problem for us. We have trained well and the goal is to top the Group and earn a place in Group II for the next championship. As far as moving to Group I, which has teams like China, Korea, Indonesia and England, it will take some more time, felt Arif.

Another factor that always affects the Indian squad while preparing for the Sudirman Cup championship, is the schedule. Coming as it does in May, there are not many tournaments at home or abroad during the period and it is practically a lull phase. For the Indian players, who are normally through with senior Nationals, by January, few Grand Prix meets outside the country are the only way to keep themselves match fit. With nothing much around during this phase, it is difficult to expect all players in peak condition. ``So what we do in such camps is concentrate on the specifics where we try and bring down the margin of errors and increase the sharpness of their game. We go in for lot of multi shuttle practices.''.

Arif also felt that while team is preparing for an event which has emphasis on doubles, there should be an adequate supply of shuttles. ``In doubles, the amount of shuttles that one breaks is on the higher side . Teams like Indonesia, use about 250 boxes per day, we only have a fraction of that''.

The coaches have strived to put a best doubles combination in place in view of its strategic importance.For the men's doubles, the two pairs that are on the list are Jaseel P.Ismail and Markose Bristow and the young combination of Diju and Sanave. For the women's doubles, the team management is likely to repose faith on the seasoned duo of P.V.V. Lakshmi and Madhumita Bhist while the promising pair, G. Jwala and Shruthi Kurien are tipped as the second choice. According to Arif, working up a good mixed doubles combination, has proved to be a tricky one. Lot of permutations and combinations are being worked out with P.V.V. Lakshmi as the main women's doubles player and Chetan Anand and Diju being the men partners. Shruthi Kurien and Jwala too are being tried out to get the right mix.

``We have to be prepared for any eventuality and if a particular player falls sick we should be in a position to replace him or her suitably . That's why we have been trying out everyone . Though we took three doubles specialists in the last tournament, we were forced to play Gopi Chand in the doubles as two of them fell sick'', said Arif.

Arif stressed the need for a change in attitude towards doubles in the country .`` We have been playing Sudirman Cup for quite some time now and there should be awareness to develop good pairs. Basically we don't have that . Sudirman Cup's format in a way was made to suit the Europeans, who are normally good in paired events, especially mixed doubles. But nations like China, Korea and even Indonesia have caught up with that. In fact Koreans only concentrate on doubles now. So we have to build winning combinations, said Arif. Does a team training abroad help? Arif opined that it was not of much use.`` It will be nice if we go out and play a series of team matches, but I really doubt any team will welcome such visits. Nobody would expose their training methods when they are preparing for a major tournament''. Similarly, the presence of a foreign coach will not be a big plus point for the Indian shuttlers felt Arif.`` Tell me in what way a Chinese coach can help us if he comes down here for a few months. His system is totally different and in a country like China, the badminton trainees have just one goal, that is to become world class players. But our boys and girls have to balance their academics and the game and they are also expected to find a good job . I really don't think any foreign coach will suit our conditions and environment'', said Arif.

Arif , however admitted that the training has to be a lot more professional in the country . `` We have to cater to the individual needs of the players. We should rectify their individual weaknesses and work on their strengths . A lot of thought should also go into counselling the players . A presence of psychologist and physiotherapist will help the players,'' he said.

Arif felt that the game has a bright future . `` For the past few years, our boys and girls have been going on tours regularly and there is no fear of foreign competition. Gopi Chand's victory has instilled confidence among our players. If Gopi has done it, lot of them now feel that they too can do it.''

KALYAN ASHOK,

Bangalore

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