Singapore team arrives

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 11. A young and well-prepared Singapore team landed in the Capital to open its campaign in the Thomas and Uber Cup qualifiers beginning at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here on Friday.

In the preliminary league, Singapore is grouped with Australia, Iran and Zambia in Thomas Cup and with India, Australia and Sri Lanka in Uber Cup.

``This is our full-strength team and we hope to get into the second stage of the championship,'' said Basri Yusuf, the 46-year-old coach of the men's team.

About the preparations, Yusuf said, ``we've had a two- month training camp at home. But it is much cooler here and I hope our players get acclimatised to the conditions soon.''

Singapore's number one player is Ronald Susilo, ranked 80 in the world. The second singles player Lau King Pong Patrick, who will also figure in doubles, is ranked a distant 335th. Yet, Yusuf sounded optimistic. ``Though we have never played Australia before, we are confident of doing well against them.''

Women's team coach Yao Fen, speaking with help of an interpreter, too, was hopeful of Singapore making it to the super league stage. ``Fatimah Kumin Lim (ranked 103) is our best bet in the singles and also the oldest at 21. Rest of the girls are teenagers. Since all the girls are playing in Uber Cup for the first time, we do lack experience but are confident of qualifying.'' said Yao Fen, who thought India and Australia were in no way superior to Singapore.

Meanwhile, after days of slumber, the organisers woke up to the task on hand. There were some good indications as far as the organisational activities were concerned, and the presence of Badminton Association of India's Executive President, Prakash Padukone and President V. K. Verma had a lot to do with it.

Padukone, whose displeasure at the present working of the BAI is no longer a secret, took some time off from supervising the officials and talked about the chances of the Indian shuttlers in the championship.

``I think, as compared to Uber Cup, we have better chances of qualifying in Thomas Cup,'' said Padukone. Admitting that doubles-play continues to be India's weak-link, Padukone was still optimistic of a good showing against Japan and Korea in the super league. ``We did not have any long camp (for Thomas and Uber Cup) since our players played in some 20 competitions both overseas and at home. Even in Commonwealth Games, no one gave us much of a chance but we did really well. I hope the players make the most of the home advantage here,'' said the maestro.

Japan's Keita Masuda and Hidetaka Yamada are, at present, ranked 27th and 38th in the world while Korea's Lee Hyun Il and Park Tae Sang are placed 68th and 72nd. In comparison, P. Gopi Chand is 32nd and Nikhil Kanetkar, 68th, on the IBF ranking list.

Padukone said, ``in Uber Cup, we can expect Aparna Popat to give us a headstart in some of the matches, since she has more international experience. Every player will have to give her 100 per cent. Any less, and we won't stand a chance of qualifying.''

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Section  : Sport
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