Doubles camp fruitful: Sidek

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, NOV. 4. At the fag end of a month-long training stint with the Indian shuttlers at the SAI (South) Centre here, the former Malaysian doubles exponent, Razif Sidek expressed satisfaction with the camp, run exclusively for doubles players.

``I am impressed with the attitude of the Indian players and they are talented, but they do have their shortcomings. They have to be a lot more fitter and play much faster to be in the reckoning in international events,'' said Sidek.

He had a special word of praise for the young pair of V. Diju and Sanave Thomas, and among women he picked G. Jwala and Shruthi Kurien as among the best bets for the future. But, Sidek said, doubles was a serious business and the Indians needed to look at it in a more focussed manner, given the important role it had in team events like Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and Sudirman Cup. Like most of the Asian veterans, Sidek too expressed reservations about the experimental new 7x5 format now in vogue. ``It robs the game of its charm and the game is as good as over with a few rallies.''

The Malaysian felt that a four-week camp was too short to produce the desired results and hoped that the Badminton Association of India would undertake more such camps. ``If I am called again, I am willing to help,'' he said.

U. Vinod Kumar, the former National doubles champion who helped Sidek at the camp, also paid compliments to Sidek's training methods. ``As a player I too had attended doubles camps, but here Sidek taught the players strategies and how to think and play. That was a unique aspect,'' he said.

The 39-year-old Sidek, with 22 international titles, including the Word championship and All England championship doubles titles under his belt, was the right choice for the camp and one wishes that BAI continues with his services. The camp at Bangalore was organised with an eye on the next Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in Manchester.

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