Sport - Badminton

Gopi Chand has to adjust to new format: Prakash
By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 10. After the euphoria following Gopi Chand's memorable title triumph last season, his inability to defend the All England badminton crown has been a big letdown for the Indian fans. But the result did not come as a surprise to his former mentors, maestro Prakash Padukone and former National champion Vimal Kumar.

Prakash told The Hindu, ``I don't know whether he was fully fit and playing a fast mover like Hashim would have been tough.''

Asked whether the new scoring format put Gopi Chand under pressure as he was critical about it, Prakash said: ``It is difficult to comment. The new format is a fact of life now and if he has problem with that, he should adjust accordingly and get over that.'' Vimal Kumar, however, felt that Gopi had put too much pressure on himself over the new scoring system. ``He had been talking about it so much in the past, may be that could have had a negative impact. Gopi should get that out of his mind and put this loss behind and concentrate on the Commonwealth title,'' said Vimal Kumar. Despite the Indian whitewash at Birmingham, the performance of debutant Arvind Bhatt came in for praise from coaches Prakash and Vimal.

``Arvind did reasonably well to make the main draw, though it was his maiden tournament. He took a game off Maleev Mainaky before going down. I hope he improves further in the other international tournaments,'' said Prakash.

Vimal said that Arvind's confidence would soar after the All England championship. ` He had a fairly good draw in the qualifiers and tested Mainaky. One can expect a better show from Arvind in future,'' said Vimal. The Indian shuttlers will now figure in the French Open in Paris from March 14. Gopi will, however, return home this week. Abhinn Shyam Gupta is the defending champion at the French Open.

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