Gopi Chand not to play doubles, says Arif

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, MARCH 27. The badminton coach for the Indian team, Mr. S.M. Arif, made it clear that four-time National champion P. Gopi Chand will not be made to play doubles in the Thomas Cup finals to be held in Malaysia from May 11 to 21.

``It will be a waste of time and energy to play Gopi in doubles. We did that in the semifinals in New Delhi just to break the rhythm of the lesser-rated opponents. We have to admit that the standard in the finals will be very high,'' he told The Hindu.

He is working with Gopi Chand, who is here recuperating from a bout of typhoid due to the stress of physical conditioning. Arif feels the premier shuttler is shaping well though his world ranking has slipped to 29 from 25 as he could not take part in the prestigious All England championship and later the French Open due to his illness.

The bearded coach is all geared up for the crucial month-long camp to be held in Bangalore from April 10 in preparation for the finals. He is candid enough to admit that India has an outside chance only against the Koreans in its group which is a very tough one as it includes Malaysia and Denmark.

``Malaysia has the best doubles pair and classy top singles players and the Danes were second in the last edition of Thomas Cup. My feeling is that only if we pull up something special in the singles do we have a chance of getting the better of the Koreans,'' he remarked. Reacting to the draw, Arif said, ``we were hoping to have England and Sweden in our group''.

The SAI coach, attached to the Indian team over the last three decades, said the emphasis during the camp will be on singles only. ``Though we will persist with the combinations of Jassil and Vincent Lobo and Vijaydeep Singh and Marco, it would be unrealistic to entertain any hopes of a miracle,'' he stressed. ``Basically, we have to change our attitude to the doubles. They should be given due recognition and made to feel equally important in a team's gameplan. The players too should take it up very seriously,'' he said.

``As far as singles is concerned, the attention will be to see that the four players - Gopi, Nikhil, Abhin Shyam Gupta, Siddarth Jain - are in the right frame of mind. They will be doing lot of speedwork and multi-shuttle training. Fitness will be the key area of focus,'' he explained. Commenting on the concept of a foreign coach, Arif feels that if anyone is appointed he should be taken on a long- term contract to take care of the sport from the sub-junior level.

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