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Badminton
Manchester-bound Indian contingent for the Commonwealth Games strike a happy pose at Bangalore Airport before departure on Saturday.
"Everyone is aware of the task at hand and the team members are in a good frame of mind. What we need to do is translate the hard training into tangible results,'' said Mr. P. Malleswaran, the General Manager of the contingent. Mr. Malleswaran, echoing the statements of badminton coaches S.M. Arif and Leroy D'sa, said hopes for the gold lay on the badminton squad and its stars, Pullela Gopi Chand and Aparna Popat. "I am sure that both will justify our immense faith and win golds and I expect the Indian squad to win at least a bronze in the team event,'' said Mr. Malleswaran. "I'm a bit excited because I'm going for an international meet after a long gap, but I'm pleased with my form and hope to fare well,'' said Aparna Popat, the silver medallist at the last Commonwealth Games, Kuala Lumpur in 1998. Malleswran said he expected al teast a gold and few bronzes from the six-member weightlifting squad which trained under former international and Arjuna Awardee Tamil Selvan. Himself a medallist in several international meets Tamil Selvan said his boys T. Muthu and Vicky Batta (56 kg), Madasamy (62 kg), Sudheer Kumar and Vadivelu (68 kg) and Satish Rai (72 kg) underwent solid training at SAI, Kengeri, and he expected the team to give a good account of itself. "I expect Muthu to pick up the gold in his class and at least a bronze from the other lifters,'' said Tamil Selvan. The stocky Southern Railway lifter, Muthu, said that personally he would settle for nothing less than a gold. "I will do my best and rest is in God's hands.'' The athletic contingent, though just four in number, looked a confident lot. While Navpreet Singh carries the country's hopes in the shot put, a event that has seen the likes of Bahadur Singh, Balwinder Singh and Shakti Singh to name a few who made more than a mark. Navpreet's recent showing during the inter-state meet at Bangalore, the Federation Cup at Chennai and the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix were all encouraging. Navpreet, the burly Punjab lad looks a good bet for the future, especially with age on his side. This trip even if it does not prove fruitful should give a boost for his future endeavours. The idea of preserving rather than rotating athletes is one reason why Navpreet got the nod ahead of Bahadur, who has won almost all the competitions with a lot to spare. Navpreet however did beat Bahadur at the Bangkok leg of the Asian Grand Prix meet. For Anju B. George, the last two seasons have not been kind. Niggling injuries prevented the lanky Chennai Customs officer from participating in the Bangalore inter-state meet. But the Federation Cup performance of 6.59 metres should give her hope to succeed at Manchester. Anju's 6.58 m at the Hyderabad leg of the Asian Grand Prix, which fetched her silver behind Kazhakstan's Yelena Koshcheyeva (6.59m) puts her among the top bracket in this level. "I am confident of doing well this time,'' said the gangling lass. Neelam J. Singh, who has been dominating the discus throw event for women, too has been recuperating from a hamstring and struggled against a consistent Harwant Kaur in the domestic meets. Also Neelam has more than a point to prove, as her foreign jaunts have had a nightmarish ending thus far. Throwing consistently in the 60 plus mark for sometime now Neelam should be able to come up trumps. "The throwers from Canada will be tough, but I hope to do well and come back with a medal ,'' she said. High jumper Bobby Aloysius, who has been training in Moscow, will join the team at Manchester. A National record of 1.90 metres at Bangalore's inter-state championship has catapulted Bobby among the medal hopefuls. "Good competition has always brought the best out of me,'' Bobby had said then. The competition at the Commonwealth Games should be enough to motivate the long-limbed jumper to put up another noteworthy performance. The Indian contingent was seen off by SAI and KOA officials, including KOA President Mr. K. Govindraj. There won't be a stop over for the team at Chennai, which is scheduled to take a connecting British Airways flight. The contingent from Bangalore: Athletics: Men: Navpreet Singh. Women: Anju B.George and Neelam J. Singh; Badminton: Men: Pullela Gopi Chand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Nikhil Kanetkar, Sachin Ratti, Markose Bristow, Sanave Thomas, V. Diju. Women: Aparna Popat, Shruthi Kurien, Jwala Gutta, Trupti Murgunde, Chapala Deepthi, B.R. Meenakshi and Neelima Choudhry. Coaches: S.M. Arif and Leroy D'sa; Weightlifting: T. Muthu, Vicky Batta, K. Madasamy, C.P. Sudheer Kumar, G. Vadivelu and Satish Rai. Coach: Tamil Selvan. Officials: Mr. P. Malleswaran (General Manager) and Dr. K. Manilal.
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