Sport - Badminton

Roles reversed for Gopi and Abhinn

By Our Special Correspondent

KANPUR APRIL 16. The new domestic season in badminton opens in the same State where the previous one had come to a close.

In January, the triumph of Allahabad-lad Abhinn Shyam Gupta had given the country a new National champion. And that, too, before an understandably vociferous and partisan crowd at Lucknow. On that occasion, P. Gopi Chand had watched the proceedings from the sidelines as he nursed a fractured ankle.

When the first edition of the Late Hari Chand memorial major ranking tournament opens at the Green Park Stadium on Wednesday, an upbeat Gopi will begin as the firm favourite for the winner's share of Rs. 40,000 winner. And this time, Abhinn is expected to among the spectators, following a wrist-injury.

Apart from Abhinn, the National runner-up Nikhil Kanetkar and National women's champion Aparna Popat will also be missed.

According to the Chief Referee, Mr. Punnaiah Choudhury, examinations had kept Kanetkar away while Aparna's entry was not received.

In view of the notable absentees, the only redeeming feature of this Rs. four lakh event is the presence of Gopi Chand.

Gopi, who gladdened the heart of his fans with a spirited display all the way to the semifinals of the Japan Open earlier this month, will also be keen to set a record straight.

Soon after winning a `double' in the National Games at Jalandhar last November, Gopi had crashed to an unexpected, straight-game loss to Sachin Ratti at Udaipur. And Gopi will have a reason to be motivated this time.

Gopi, who is expected to reach here on Thursday, begins his campaign against Tamil Nadu's qualifier G. D. Yuvraj Kumar. Though Gopi may not be required to draw on his reserves in any of the matches, it remains to be seen how he copes with the conditions. Several times in the past, more than the opponents, Gopi has been troubled with the lighting and the variable speed of the lesser-quality shuttles used in domestic competitions. But then, Gopi is expected to make the necessary adjustments and carry on with the job on hand.

In the semifinals, he is due to face the winner of Arvind Bhatt-Sanave Thomas match. Bhatt, a surprise semifinalist in the National championship, is an exciting prospect while Thomas is better known for claiming the National doubles title in the company of V. Diju.

Chetan Anand, runner-up in the National Games and a losing quarterfinalist to Ravinder Singh in the National championship, will have to work much harder to justify his second seeding. He is drawn to play Sachin Ratti in the quarterfinals and Ravinder for a place in the final. The bottom-half of the draw also includes several good but unpredictable players like Siddharth Jain, Thomas Kurien, the highly-experienced Sushant Saxena and B. G. Kiran.

Among the ladies, where the top prize is worth Rs. 30,000, top seed and former National champion P. V. V. Lakshmi will be keen to avenge the humiliating 19-minute loss suffered at the hands of Trupti Murgunde in the semifinals at the National championship in Lucknow. In fact, the 12-player field, with the top four seeds enjoying first-round byes, does not promise too many exciting matches. In fact, a drop-out or two cannot be ruled out.

In the men's doubles, one can look forward to the likely final clash featuring National champions Thomas and Diju against top seeds Jaseel P. Ismail and Jaison Xavier. No other combination looks good enough to upstage the top two seeds on way to the final.

The eight-pair women's doubles competition also looks predictable. Though Oli Deka of Assam and B. R. Meenakshi of Petroleum head the seedings, former National champions G. Jwala and Shruti Kurien, seeded two, will be watched with keen interest.

After a none-too-impressive last season, this young combination will have a lot to work to do in order to justifying the faith of their coach, Mohammad Arif.

Manjusha to play doubles

The event will also see the return of former National champion Manjusha Kanwar. After missing the best part of the last season due to injury, Manjusha will be seen in action but only in doubles. She teams up with old friend Archana Deodhar in the women's doubles and Jaseel P. Ismail in the mixed doubles. In fact, Manjusha has claimed the National titles in the company of these players.

Despite the small and depleted field, there is much to look forward to in this season-opener.

The seedings:

Men's singles: 1. P. Gopi Chand (PSCB), 2. B. Chetan Anand (PSCB), 3. Arvind Bhatt (Kar) and 4. Ravinder Singh (UP).

Women's singles: 1. P. V. V. Lakshmi (PSCB), 2. Trupti Murgunde (Air-India), 3. C. H. Deepti (PSCB) and 4. B. R. Meenakshi (PSCB).

Men's doubles: 1. Jaseel P. Ismail/Jaison Xavier (PSCB), 2. Sanave Thomas/V. Diju (Kerala).

Women's doubles: 1. Oli Deka (Asm)/B. R. Meenakshi (PSCB).

Mixed doubles: 1. B. R. Meenakshi (PSCB)/Markose Bristow (Ker); 2. Archana Deodhar/Ajay Kanwar (Del).

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