On the right track

By Stan Rayan

KOCHI, FEB. 22. Despite being set in a thick concrete jungle, the suite in the Kochi hotel offered a magnificent view. The quiet backwaters, tiny boats lazing about, the rich palm fronds...all gave it an exotic touch. And international P. Gopi Chand, the star occupant, nodded in agreement.

Indian badminton presents an equally refreshing scene now. Eight players ranked among the world's top 100, entry into the Thomas Cup, significant wins in the international circuit...the palmy days are back. The efforts of Prakash Padukone are clearly paying dividends now.

The Thomas Cup entry has placed India among the top eight teams in the world. A major group which includes champion Indonesia, China, Korea, Denmark, Sweden, England and Thomas Cup host Malaysia. Truly, it is a major achievement.

And for the next few months, the race will be on for individual honours, for an improvement in the world rankings. The next goal is the Sydney Olympics which comes up this September.

``It's the world rankings which matter now. The top 29 qualify for the Olympics. The All-England Championship and the French Open, both in March, will give a good chance for us to improve our rankings.

They will also provide a good preparation for the Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur in May. The entire Indian team is likely to take part in both the events.'' said Gopi Chand, national champion and currently the top-ranked Indian in the world at No. 32.

For Gopi, especially, this year will be a busy one. Apart from the All-England, the Thomas Cup and the Olympics, he will try for a spot in the World Grand Prix in December, which is open to the top 16 in the world. Still, he would not plan too far ahead. And when one talks to him, even December appears ages away.

``Normally, I'm not a person who plans too many things. I take it one at a time. It's true, the more you play, the better your rankings. I will be playing a lot in Europe this year,'' he said.

Gopi finished runner-up in the German Open (a three- star Grand Prix event) and the French Open and won the Toulose, Scottish Opens and the Asian Satellite event (in Hyderabad). Soon after, he achieved his career-best ranking of 26 in December 1999. But the Delhi Asian preliminaries, through which India qualified for the Thomas Cup, the world's premier team event, after a gap of 12 years, will remain in his memory for long.

Gopi's fine `bounce-back' win over the unpredictable Thai Boonsak Polsana in the opener gave India the required pep for the match. Abhinn Shyam Gupta won the second singles and Gopi later teamed up with Vincent Lobo to give India a memorable 3-1 victory over Thailand and qualified as the third men's team from the Asian leg. But how did it feel when he lost the first game and trailed 4-6 in the second against Polsana ? Did he think he would still make it ?

``I knew I had a chance and I just hung on. In the second game, I tried playing faster, played more strokes and turned more aggressive. That changed the course of the match,'' said Gopi.

And what about our chances in the Thomas Cup ? ``I wouldn't like to speculate too much on that but I think we have a chance against a few teams. We beat England in the 1998 Commonwealth Games where we won the silver, behind host Malaysia. So we have a chance against them,'' said Gopi.

How will Indian badminton look ten years from now ?

``We have several juniors who have been playing exceptionally well during the last few years. Players like Abhinn Shyam, Nikhil Kanetkar, Sidharth, Chetan Anand, Ajit and Sachin Ratti. The kind of players we have now...I see a very positive showing. The future looks quite bright.''

A magnificent view indeed !

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : On the blocks for a new season
Next     : Kunte begins in style