Divya Ramesh in Indian squad

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, JULY 14. Divya Ramesh has been named in a five-member Indian women's badminton squad for the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Islamabad from October 7-13, 2001, where All- England singles champion P. Gopichand spearheads India's challenge in the men's event.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) released the team list after a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday attended by selectors Dinesh Khanna, Pradeep Gandhe, Partho Ganguly, S. M. Arif, S. S. Mani and L. C. Gupta (BAI honorary secretaries) and V. K. Verma (BAI president).

The Bangalore-based shuttler however does not find a place on the national squad for the Asian Badminton Championships in Manila from August 21, 2001 nor for a three-nation European circuit from October 2 onwards.

Divya was in the news after the Bangalore High Court reportedly issued a directive to BAI to consider her for selection in keeping with the national badminton federation's guidelines.

Asked about the implications of the court ruling on the decisions of the national selectors, president V.K. Verma explained: ``The court asked us to consider Divya's case for selection as per BAI guidelines. She is ranked fifth in India behind Aparna Popat, Manjusha Kanwar, P. V. V. Lakshmi and B. R. Meenakshi in our list on the basis of performance. So the selectors chose her for the SAF Games where a bigger team can be fielded.

The BAI president, explaining her exclusion from the ABC squad, said: ``The ABC permits only two entries in singles and one in doubles, i.e the two best singles players and the best doubles combination, hence Aparna and Manjusha have been chosen, while the Shruti Kurien-Jwala Gutta pair is our best doubles pair.''

When it was pointed out the court ruling dealt with her selection prospects for the Malaysian Open (July 16) and Indonesian Open (July 23), Verma stated that he had not seen the ruling.

``I have yet to get the court ruling. Do you know what the ruling says? It said that Divya's case be considered for national selection as per BAI guidelines.''

``The entries for the two tournaments had to be confirmed a month in advance. One tournament has already started. Aparna Popat withdrew, but her place cannot automatically go to an Indian since the names have to be sent in advance,'' he explained.

When asked to explain the selectors reasoning behind leaving out Aparna from the SAF Games squad, Verma pointed out that in view of the SAF Games (Oct 7-13) overlapping with the Euro circuit (Oct 2-21) it would be difficult for her to play both.

None of the other three chosen for the Euro circuit - B. R. Meenakshi, Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurien - find a place on the SAF squad.

Madhumita Bisht gets an opportunity to prove her worth at the SAF Games. ``We are looking for medals, hence Madhumita was chosen. In the meantime, I hope talented juniors like Shruti, Jwala and Chetan Anand come through and push our top players Aparna and Gopichand respectively from below,'' said Verma.

The teams:

Manila Asian Badminton Championships (August 21-26) Men: P. Gopichand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Sachin Rathi, Chetan Anand, Vijaydeep Singh, Markos Bristow, V. Diju, Sanave Thomas; Women: Aparna Popat, Manjusha Kanwar, Jwala Gutta, Shruti Kurien. Coaches: S. M. Arif, Bhaskar Babu.

German, Dutch and Danish Championships (October 2-21):Men: P. Gopichand and Abhinn Shyam Gupta (for Danish Championships only), Chetan Anand, V. Diju and Sanave Thomas (full circuit); Women: Aparna Popat, B. R. Meenakshi, Jwala Gutta, Shruti Kurien. Coaches: S. M. Arif (Danish only), Sanjeev Sachdeva.

Islamabad SAF Games (October 7-13):Men: P. Gopichand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Sachin Rathi, Vijaydeep Singh, Markos Bristow, Jaseel Ismail, Jason Xavier, Anuj Gupta; Women: Manjusha Kanwar, P. V. V. Lakshmi, Divya Ramesh, Parul Priyadarshani, Madhumita Bisht. Coaches: S. M. Arif, Hufrish Nariman.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Next     : Leko draws with Kramnik