Aditi, Kashyap emerge champs

Finals:
Women's Single
Aditi Mutatkar (Mah) bt Trupti Murgunde (PET) 19-21,21-10,21-15
Men's Singles
Kashyap P (AP) bt Anand Pawar(AI) 16-21,21-19,21-15
Men's Doubles
Sanave Thomas/ Rupesh Kumar (Ker) Akshay Dewalkar/ Diju. V (AI/ Ker)21-19,22-24,21-11

It's Kashyap vs Anand Pawar

Bangalore: The top seeds at the Canara Bank All India tournament progressed into the finals, with Aditi Mutatkar setting up a showdown with Trupti Murgunde, and Kashyap and Anand Pawar doing likewise in the men's singles.
Aparna Balan and Jyothsna won the women's doubles title, beating Ruth Misha and Soumya Padhye.
Results:
Women's Singles (SEMIFINALS)
Trupti Murgunde bt Gayatri Vartak 21-17,21-8; Aditi Mutatkar bt Ashwini Ponnappa 21-12,21-16
Men's Singles (SEMIFINALS)
Kashyap P bt Jishnu Sanyal 18-21,21-8,21-13; Anand Pawar bt Sagar Chopda 21-16,21-14

Women's Doubles (FINALS)
Aparna Balan/ Jyothsna bt Saumya Padhye/ Ruth Misha 21-18,21-15

Men's Doubles (SEMI-FINALS)
Sanave Thomas/ Rupesh Kumar bt Ram C Vijay/Utsav Mishra W/O
Akshay Dewalkar/ Diju V Jayan James/Dinesh T 21-16,17-21,21-13

Aditi, Trupti in semis

Bangalore: Trainees of the Padukone Academy have had an excellent tournament so far (Canara Bank All India Senior Ranking), with all four women's semifinal spots. Two of the four men's semis places have also been booked by Academy trainees.
The best match on Monday morning in the women's was Ashwini Ponnappa's three-game upset of BR Meenakshi 21-16,11-21,24-22; in the men's, V Amar gave Sachin Ratti a tough time but lost 21-19,18-21,21-18; both in the pre-quarters.


Women's Singles (QUARTERFINALS)
119 Trupti Murgunde PET Ruth Misha KTK "21-17,21-10"
120 Gayatri Vartak MAH Aparna Balan KER "21-11,21-19"
121 Ashwini Ponnappa KTK Dhanya Nair RLY "21-13,18-21,21-13"
122 Aditi Mutatkar MAH Sampada Sahasrabudde MAH "21-10,21-16"

Men's Singles (QUARTERFINALS)
57 Kashyap.P AP Gurusai Dutt.R.M.V. AP "21-17,21-19"
58 Jishnu Sanyal AI Sachin Ratti RLY "21-15,14-21,21-11"
59 Sagar Chopda MAH Ravindra Singh UP "26-24,21-16"
60 Anand Pawar AI Utsav Mishra AI "21-19,21-10"

Women's Doubles (SEMIFINALS)
136 Aparna Balan/ Jyothsna KER/ AP Anita Ohlan/ Dhanya Nair RLY "21-18,21-19"
137 Saumya Padhye/ Ruth Misha KTK Deepthi Shalini/ Deepthi Priyadarshini AP "15-21,21-19,21-11
Men's Doubles (QUARTERFINALS)
88 Sanave Thomas/ Rupesh Kumar KER Kiran Kumar.B/ Tanishak. K AP "21-16,21-13"
89 Ram.C.Vijay/Utsav Mishra KER/ AI Tanveer Gill/ Krishna. S.D.S DLI/ KTK "21-18,30-28"
90 Jayan James/ Dinesh.T AP Arjun Prasad/ Hersen. K.S KER "21-14,21-12"
91 Akshay Dewalkar/ Diju. V AI/ KER Jaseel.P.Ismail/ Jose George KER/ KTK "21-12,21-19"

Gayatri reaches Welsh semis

4 Dec 07
ACADEMY trainee Gayatri Vartak notched up her best performance in international Badminton reaching the semifinals of the Welsh International 2007 in Cardiff. In the semis, Gayatri lost to the eventual winner and world no. 53 Gill Pittard of England 16-21,9-21. On the way to the semis, Gayatri beat Munn Tzin Bong of England 21-16,21-10; Chioe Magee (Ireland) 23-21,21-12 and Atu Rosalina Sagita (Indonesia) in the quarters 21-18,15-21,21-15.
Gayatri, who is currently ranked 174 in the world, is sure to improve her ranking by a good margin when the new rankings are released on December 6. Gayatri, along with academy-mate Aditi Mutatkar, was training under British coach Tom John in London prior to participating in the European circuit tournaments.

Hong Kong Open goes China's way

2 Dec 07: Indonesia took two gold and China three at the Hong Kong Open -- Nova Widianto/ Lilyana Natsir and Markis Kido/ Hendra Setiawan getting atop the winners' podium. Good news for Indonesia as the Olympic race hots up.
There must have been some pressure on Lin Dan, but the champ came through in style against Chong Wei in three sets.
Final results :
WS : Xie Xingfang (CHN) beat Zhu Lin (CHN) : 21/19 – 21/14
MxD : Widianto/Natsir (INA) Vs Zheng/Gao (CHN) : 23/21 – 21/18 – 21/19
MS : Lin Dan (CHN) beat Lee Chong Wei (MAL) : 9/21 – 21/15 – 21/15
WD : Du/Yu (CHN) beat Zhang /Wei (CHN) : 22/20 – 13/21 – 21/17
MD : Kido/Setiawan (INA)beat Gunawan/Wijaya (USA/INA) : 21/12 – 18/21 – 21/13

A letter... that won't make a difference

This is a letter addressed to LC Gupta, Secretary of Badminton Association of India. The letter has been sent by NC Sudhir, Secretary of the Karnataka association, before the BAI's Annual General Body meeting on Dec 8. I don't expect the AGM to be any different from its past versions. Officials who have been clinging to their posts for the last decade or two will continue; dissidents won't raise their voice; and Indian badminton will continue to be hounded. This letter is remarkable because it raised the issue of age-group violations. Several of India's so-called junior champions are really five or six years older than they claim they are; in fact, some have even submitted three or four different certificates. Andhra Pradesh's Sikki Reddy, a protege of national chief coach P Gopichand, is a proven culprit. She has already started representing the national team...
At a recent junior tournament in Dehra Dun, several coaches and parents protested the rampant age-group violations. Senior coach Roshan Lal Nahar staged a fast and forced the organisers to conduct tests. The tests proved that nearly 40 contestants were illegally participating. National coach Gopichand's home state Andhra has a terrible record -- around 37 violations were reported!
I don't expect this letter to make any difference because the senile LC Gupta will brush it off and the other officials will only be too happy to play along. Nevertheless, full credit to Sudhir and others in the KBA.

Shri L C Gupta
Hon Secretary
Badminton Association of India

Sir,

Sub: AGM Agenda

We are in receipt of your meeting notice. I will be attending the meeting on 5th December as informed and will be reaching Guwahati on the 4th Morning.

1. Calendar of events: As regard to planning the forthcoming tournament season, we are of the opinion that Badminton Association of India should have a vibrant domestic circuit. In the last one and a half years we have observed that after senior national championships in January there is no tournament scheduled for the next 11 months for seniors and then in December and January all tournaments are scheduled for seniors prior to the nationals. This sort of scheduling is very taxing for the players and in the process players tend to miss out on certain tournaments resulting in organizers losing face and sponsors backing off from supporting tournaments. As you agree, some top players get to play international tournaments, but many others need to play tournaments during the season and the best way for that is to have national ranking tournaments spread out during the calendar year. This will help the next line of players to come up and I have taken the expert opinion of Mr. Prakash Padukone and Mr. Vimal Kumar and they vouch for the above suggestion.

Last year we had requested to conduct a team championship event on the Sudirman Cup format for the top 8 states. In fact it was given the approval but no dates were allotted for this event. This event is very important considering our preparations and the format involved for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The top 8 state can field a maximum of 8 players / state which include 4 Men and 4 Women along with 2 officials. The state must ensure that players residing in the state alone can represent that state. This can generate tremendous media attention and interest among the states. The winning state team will be given Rs.1 Lakh as prize money and the runner-up Rs.50,000/- . The duration of the tournament will be 4 days. The boarding and lodging and 3 tier A/c travel charges will be borne by the host association of all the participating teams. We are prepared to do this event on a regular basis for the next 3 years.

To make Badminton Association of India’s calendar of events for the next season more vibrant, our association is prepared to conduct the following events during the months given below: -

Date Tournament Prize Money Category
1.June ’08 UBI All India Junior Ranking Tournament 3 Lakhs U-13, U-16,
U-19
2.July ’08 TATA Open Senior Tournament 5 Lakhs Men & Women
3.September ’08 Inter State (Sudirman Cup Format)
4.December ’08 TATA Open Senior Tournament 5 Lakhs Men & Women
5.January ’08 Canara Bank Senior Tournament 5 Lakhs Men & Women


We are also prepared to take up the Junior or Senior Nationals of 2008. We would appreciate if we are allotted the Senior National Championships.

2. OVERAGED PLAYERS:

We are very concerned about the recent happenings in Dehra Dun during the sub-junior national championships related to overaged players. We have clear evidence in the form of the certificates in our records of certain players with different age certificates submitted for junior tournaments over the years. The sad part is some of these players have gone on to win the national sub-junior titles in Dehra Dun. It is a shame that BAI has failed to initiate action against these players who have produced two to three different birth certificates. In fact our coach and manager complained that they were not given the result of the medical tests conducted on certain players in Dehra Dun.

We suggest that an independent medical board test all players who won the sub-junior national title in Dehra Dun in a very transparent manner immediately. The credibility of BAI is at stake here and the best punishment for the offenders can be barring them from playing in any age category events in future. BAI need not have to worry about the consequences and these norms can be incorporated in the BAI by laws. Catching a culprit when there is clear evidence will never go against the BAI. All that BAI need to show is some firmness in dealing with this problem and we are sure that all state units will stand firmly behind BAI in dealing with this age old problem.

We request BAI to take the above suggestions in the right spirit. Look forward to meeting you in Guwahati next week.

Yours sincerely,
Sudhir N C
Hon Secretary
Karnataka Badminton Association

Anand Pawar bows out in Scottish semis

26 Nov 07
ANAND PAWAR'S fine run at the Scottish Open came to an end when he was beaten in the semifinals by promising Japanese youngster Kenichi Tago in a thrilling three-setter 21-12, 9-21, 19-21. Anand, having won the first game comfortably at 21-12 could not sustain the pace and lost the second game 9-21. In the decider Anand led 19-17 but the Japanese won the next four points and the match at 21-19.

The Japanese then went on to win the title beating German No.1 Bjoern Joppien in the final 21-11,15-21,18-21.

Anand Pawar along with Aditi Mutatkar will now return to India to compete in the Indian Satellite event to be held in Guwahati from December 1.

Anand Pawar progresses at Scottish

24 Nov 07

ANAND PAWAR (21) has moved into the quarterfinals of the Scottish Open Badminton Championships in progress at Glasgow. Anand in his opening round upset rising Danish star Jan O Jorgensen in straight games (21-14, 23-21) and followed that up with straight games wins over Scott Evans (Ireland no.1 and world no.45) 21-14, 21-18 and French No.1 Erwin Kehlhoffner (21-13, 21-19). Anand on Saturday will play Andrea Dabaka, the top Canadian in the quarterfinals.

Anand Pawar, a trainee of the Padukone Academy, has been training in Aarhus, Denmark, for the past two months under Danish great Morten Frost. The academy has sent Anup Sridhar and Anand Pawar to train under Morten and also play the European tournaments during October/November. Anup Sridhar had to cut short his training programme and return to India due to a heel injury.

In the women’s singles, Aditi Mutatkar made good progress beating Jill Pittard of England 22-20, 21-11 before losing to Japanese player Kanako Yonekura 16-21,18-21 in the pre-quarterfinals.

Canara Bank All India tournament

PRESS RELEASE
21 Nov 2007

THE new national senior badminton circuit gets underway at Bangalore in the second week of December with the Third Canara Bank All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament. This event will be played at the K Raheja Badminton Stadium in Bangalore between December 8 and 12. The total prize money on offer will be Rs.5 lakh. Qualifying rounds will be played on December 8 and the tournament proper from the next day. In all there will be four events -- men’s and women’s singles and doubles (no mixed doubles). The winner of the men’s singles is likely to get around Rs.1 lakh as prize money. This event is likely to attract all the top players of the country as the performance will be considered for selection of Indian team for the Thomas/Uber cup and the European circuit to be held during February/March 2008. This event will be held under the aegis of Karnataka Badminton Association and is being coordinated by Padukone Sports Management. While Canara Bank will be the main sponsor, HDFC Mutual Fund and Yonex will be the co-sponsors.

Plenty to do

When I first started Badminton Mania, I wanted it to be a window into Indian badminton. There were times when I felt a missionary zeal to update stuff; but more often the site has gone long stints without any updates. One of the reasons has been the number of technical problems that kept cropping up and stalling me.
This blog was meant to provide updates at tournaments, etc, where I would find it hard to maintain a regular website. I'm still at a loss to know what the correct balance should be.
On the positive site, Thomas Kunnath and I brought out a newsletter on Indian badminton called 'Guts'. It's a four-page affair with interviews, profiles, etc. The second edition is ready. Let's see how far we can carry it.
How will this blog evolve? How will Badminton Mania evolve? I have several ideas, most of which have only remained in my head. Will it be a personal journey into badminton country? Will it carry tournament results and features? I haven't decided yet.
I just hope to keep updating.

Heartbreak for Malaysia

Tokyo, 5 May: It was heartbreak for Malaysia as Denmark pulled off the last rubber of their semifinal tie to run into China for the Thomas Cup. China, meanwhile, thrashed Indonesia in their semifinal and look well set to take both the Thomas and Uber Cup.

Malaysia, who were reckoned to be the most potent threat to China during their run-up to the semis, missed the services of the injured Wong Choon Hann, and Denmark made that count as Joachim Persson won the fifth match against Kuan Beng Hong.

The hero of Denmark's win, was however Peter Gade, who scored a remarkable win over world No.2 Lee Chong Wei, who was looking almost unbeatable in the last few months. Gade's win took the wind out of Malaysia's sails, and they trailed right through.

Keat and Chan equalised the tie for Malaysia, beating Hansen and Eriksen 30-28 in the second and 21-6 in the third. Kenneth Jonassen then scored another big point, downing Hafiz Hashim in three tight games. Choong and Lee Wan Wah restored parity in the doubles, over Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, and it was finally down to the last match. Last year's ABC finalist Kuan was expected to win the tie for his country, but faltered against Persson.

Meanwhile, the biggest story in the other semifinal was Lin Dan's hammering of Taufik Hidayat. Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng escaped a tight first game against Alven and Luluk, and Bao Chunlai nailed home the last point over Sony DK.

For complete scores click here.

India fail to make the grade

2 May '06
Tokyo: Denmark eased into the semifinals of the Thomas Cup, giving no quarter to India in a ruthless 3-0 finish.
A youthful Indian team could not even take a game off the European champions.
Meanwhile, China strolled into the last four and await the winners of the quarterfinal between Indonesia and Japan.

Peter Gade set things up with a comfortable 14 and 8 demolition of Chetan Anand. Kenneth Jonassen followed suit with a 11 and 12 result over Anup Sridhar, while the doubles pair of Eriksen and Hansen were briefly troubled in the second game by Diju and Rupesh Kumar, but sealed their side's win with a 14 and 19 result.

The Uber Cup saw a big upset, with Germany pulling off a 3-2 result over Hong Kong China. Although world No.3 Wang Chen put Hong Kong ahead with a three-game win over European champion Xu Huaiwen, the second and third singles let Hong Kong down.

However, China had no problems against Singapore, whipping them 3-0, with Zhang Ning opening the tie with a 18 and 18 result over Li Li.

India in last eight

1 May '06
Sendai: Anup Sridhar upset world No. 33 John Moody as India whitewashed New Zeland 3-0 to storm into the quarterfinals of the World badminton men’s team championship for the Thomas Cup here on Monday.

India, missing its number one shuttler Chetan Anand to injury, sealed the victory in an emphatic fashion with Sridhar, Arvind Bhat, and Nikhil Kanetkar winning the three singles matches in the five-match pre-quarterfinal tie.

The two inconsequential doubles matches were not played. India now take on Denmark, who reached the last eight stage after topping group C, for a place in the quarterfinals to be played in Tokyo from Wednesday.

National champion Sridhar, ranked 64, provided a perfect start for India with a 21-15, 21-9 mauling of Moody in the first singles in just 26 minutes, to take revenge for his loss to Moody at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Bhat then tamed newcomer Henry Tam 21-17, 21-5 to give a 2-0 lead to India.

Kanetkar, who replaced Anand and was playing in his first match of the championship, faced stiff challengefrom Craig Cooper but pushed his game one notch up in the final game for 21-13, 18-21, 21-10 victory in 40 minutes. PTI

India hold off German challenge

29 April 2006 (Read Raphael Sachetat's report)
Sendai (Japan): Rupesh Kumar and V Diju raised their game when it mattered most and won the last doubles tie as India overcame a gritty Germany 3-2 to move into the pre-quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup on Saturday.

India take on New Zealand in the pre-quarterfinals on Monday. The Kiwis finished at the bottom of Group B after losing both their league matches to Korea and Indonesia.

India began on the wrong note with World No. 24 Chetan Anand not in his elements against Bjoern Joppien and as the German tamed him 21-17, 21-12 and India had the worst possible start.

In the second match, Anup Sridhar too was stretched in the first game even though he snatched it from Conrad Hueckstaedt.

The German, however, soon returned to the win the second game. Anup finally went on to win the third game and the match 22-20, 14-21, 21-6.

Arvind Bhat, despite dropping the second game, kept the momentum going and his 21-14, 17-21, 21-16 win against Roman Spitko saw India snatching the lead with two doubles matches to go.

Thomas Kurien and Jaseel Ismail, however, forfeited the advantage as they tamely went down to Kristof Hopp and Ingo Kindervater 9-21, 16-21 and the Germans were back in contention at 2-2.

In the decider, Rupesh Kumar and V Diju kept their cool and never allowed any leeway to the German rivals Michael Fuchs and Spitko as they chalked out a straight game win 21-18, 21-12.
Indian coach Vimal Kumar gave credit to the singles winners but said Spitko was not at his best which helped his team to an extent.

The results: India beat Germany 3-2 (Chetan Anand lost to Bjoern Joppien 17-21, 12-21; Anup Sridhar beat Conrad Hueckstaedt 22-20, 14-21, 21-6; Aravind Bhat beat Roman Spitko 21-14, 17-21, 21-16; Thomas Kurien-Jaseel Ismail lost to Kristof Hopp-Ingo Kindervater 9-21, 16-21; Rupesh Kumar-V Diju beat Michael Fuchs-Roman Spitko 21-18, 21-12).

China whitewash India

28 April 2006
Sendai (Japan): Chetan Anand's brave fight against the World No 1 was the the only highlight for India who were thrashed 0-5 by defending champions China in their first league match of Thomas Cup badminton finals here on Friday.

Anand, ranked 24, gave a scare to Lin Dan as he snatched the second game but the champion
finally emerged unscathed 21-8, 21-23, 21-11 to win the first match of the tie.

From thereafter, it was a one-sided affair as China gave no further room to India and
stamped their supermacy, routing other players in straight games.

The doubles combination of Rupesh Kumar and V Diju went down 5-21, 16-21 to Fu Haifeng
and Cai Yun in the second match.

World no 9 Chen Jin got the better of national champion Anup Sridhar 21-14, 21-10 to seal the
tie in China's favour.

The scratch doubles combine of Thomas Kurien and Jaseel Ismail lost 6-21, 10-21 to Bo
Zhang and Guo Zhendeng in the inconsequential match.

Arvind Bhat went down 15-21, 10-21 in the last singles to Xia Xuanze.

India, who last qualified for the world team badminton Championship in 2000, would next
play Germany in their last league match on Saturday. Beating Germany would be the key for
India to reach the knock-out stage.

The results: Thomas Cup: Group A: China bt India 5-0 (Lin Dan bt Chetan Anand 21-8, 21-23, 21-11; Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun bt Rupesh Kumar/Diju V 21-5, 21-16; Chen Jin bt Anup Sridhar 21-14, 21-10; Zheng Bo/Guo Zhendong bt Thomas Kurian/Jaseel P. Ismail 21-6, 21-10; Xia Zuanze bt Arvind Bhat 21-15, 21-10).

Malaysia win Asian Zone title

Dev S Sukumar

Jaipur, 19 February: China had better beware. Malaysia is going to be a handful at the Thomas Cup finals in Japan later this year.

In an engrossing Asian Zone final here on Sunday, a youthful Malaysian contingent pulled off a win over South Korea to affirm themselves as the hottest competitors to holders China.

Misbun Sidek, Malaysia’s most famous badminton name, is staking out the territory, and he has China in his sights. Even before the final started, Misbun let it be known that he was grooming three players – Hafiz Hashim, Lee Chong Wei and Kuan Beng Hong – in different styles to counter the current international trend of all-round play. “I think we have a good chance against China for the Thomas Cup,” he said with quiet confidence.

The evidence was out against Korea. Lee Chong Wei destroyed All England runner-up Lee Hyun Il, Hafiz Hashim played a magnificent match against Park Sung Hwan, and Kuan Beng Hong clinched the title for them after both Malaysian doubles teams faltered.

The match of the tournament was Hafiz against Park. Having seen the first doubles go to Korea, Hafiz treated the crowd to a spectacular exhibition of badminton; his peculiar flicks at the net and graceful movement around the court giving glimpses of the talent that won him an All England title.

Park, though, pulled off a tight first game, as got sluggish towards the end. It looked like an easy second game for the Korean.

But Hafiz somehow kept apace, his trickery at the net catching the Korean time and again. It was finally down to the third game, and Hafiz rocketed ahead 13-2 as the exhausted Korean made error after error. A 21-7 final game gave the Malaysians a 2-1 lead, after which the Koreans equalized in the second doubles. It was finally left to the explosive Kuan Beng Hong, who reached the final of the Asian Badminton Confederation championships in Hyderabad last September, to finish off things for the Malaysians.

Earlier, India fell to Indonesia for the third place playoff, but Indian No.2 Arvind Bhat created a sensation by nailing Simon Santoso in straight games.

Placings: Thomas Cup: 1-Malaysia 2-Korea 3-Indonesia 4-India
Uber Cup: 1-Korea 2-Chinese Taipei 3-Singapore 4-Hong Kong

Anup fails to pull the plug

Dev S Sukumar

Jaipur, February 18: As Anup Sridhar stepped up to serve match point at 24-23, second game, the crowd held its breath. One point was all that he needed to nail Shong Seung Mo, the Olympic silver medallist, no less, in the third match of the Thomas Cup (Asian Zone) semifinal between India and Korea on Saturday.
And then Anup served high.

He'll probably be asked a hundred times why he chose that high serve when he knew Shon has one of the biggest smashes in the game. He'll probably ask that question of himself a thousand times. But it doesn't matter any more, because he served high, Shon smashed, went on to take the game, and destroyed the Indian national champion in the deciding game to see his country register a comfortable 3-0 verdict and enter the Asian Zone final.

Not that Anup's win might have made a big difference to the team's fortunes. India's best hope Chetan Anand, after his remarkable wins against the fancied Kendrick Lee (Singapore) and Ng Wei (Hong Kong) earlier, looked sluggish against Lee Hyun Il, the All England runner-up. He kept up the challenge briefly at the beginning of the match, but then succumbed to the Korean's big jump smashes.

The doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas, which pulled off a surprise win over Hong Kong on Friday, fell tamely to the superior firepower of Lee Jae Jin and Han Sung Hoon.

And then it was Anup's turn. Like Chetan, he had won both his matches leading up to the semifinal, and he matched Shon stroke for stroke by reducing the pace of the rally and not allowing the Korean to get in his big smashes. At 21-22, game point for Shon, a stroke of luck favoured the Indian -- a line call went his way -- and he went on to take the game.

The second was a thriller all the way. The Indian kept catching Shon with his deceptive flicks and half-smashes, and began to poke holes on the Korean's forehand side. He seemed to have sewn it up at 20-16, four match points.

But then he faltered, making two misjudgements at the baseline and serving high when he had to keep the shuttle low. Two more match points came and went, both on the high serve, and the Korean just about squeezed through the second game. The third was a washout, as Anup looked too disappointed to pose a challenge.

Indian Chief Coach Vimal Kumar could shake his head. "Anup couldn't serve low under pressure. He tried to hurry Shon at match point... we didn't expect to upset Korea, but it would have been good if we could've won a couple of matches."
Results:
S Korea bt India 3-0 (Lee Hyun Il bt Chetan Anand 21-13, 21-10; Lee Jae Jin/ Han Sung Hoon bt Rupesh Kumar/ Sanave Thomas 21-17, 21-12; Shon Seung Mo bt Anup Sridhar 22-24, 27-25, 21-10).

India enter finals; Indonesia survive Thailand scare

By Dev S Sukumar/ badmintonmania.com


Jaipur, February 17: India booked a place in the Thomas Cup finals with a surprisingly one-sided result over Hong Kong at the Asian Zone preliminaries in Jaipur on Friday. The Indian women, however, were overwhelmed by Singapore, who dashed their hopes of qualifying.

Advantaged by a scoring system that places more accent on skill than on stamina, India again set the pace when Chetan Anand caught world no.10 Ng Wei off-guard with his gentle flicks and double-action tosses. Once the breach had been achieved, Hong Kong were always staving off the attack. They equalised in the second match, but Indian national champion Anup Sridhar again showed far too much variety for Yohan Hadikusuma in the third singles game. The Indian doubles team of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas then buried Hong Kong's challenge with yet another surprise result.

The new 21-point scoring system has been the topic of much debate, and IBF Deputy President Punch Gunalan even called a press conference on Friday to defend it.

But late on Friday, an unprecedented disaster seemed ready to unfold as Thailand led 2-0 against Indonesia. Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro were both dumped in the singles, by Boonsak Ponsana and Poompat S respectively. Had Thailand clinched one more match, Indonesia would have been out of the Thomas Cup, and that too even without making the finals! Such a result would have led to an immediate debate on the scoring system, especially as Taufik has made his dislike for it public.

But Indonesia's doubles teams saved the day. Piloted by the crafty Christian Hadinata from the coaches' bench, Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvin Yulianto reduced the deficit to 1-2 and then Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan equalised at 2-2.

But the task was not done. It required the baby-faced Simon Santoso to hold his nerve against Peerasak W, which the youngster did quite easily, much to the relief of the Indonesian contingent, comprising of Hadinata, Rudy Hartono, Lius Pongoh, and other legends.

Indonesia thus topped Group B and will take on Group A toppers Malaysia in the semifinals of the Asian Zone. The other semis will pit Group C toppers India against Group D toppers Korea.

Indonesia's women, however, missed the bus by coming fourth in the group. Although they narrowly beat Chinese Taipei on Friday, they'd lost to Malaysia 2-3, while Chinese Taipei had beaten Malaysia 3-2.

Thomas Cup: India bt Hong Kong 3-2 (Chetan Anand bt Ng Wei 26-24, 21-19; Agus Hariyanto bt Arvind Bhat 21-12, 21-16; Anup Sridhar bt Yohan Hadikusuma 17-21, 21-18, 21-12; Rupesh Kumar/ Sanave Thomas bt Albertus Susanto / Wa Kwog Liu 11-21, 21-18, 21-10; Agus Hariyanto/ Yohan Hadikusuma bt V Diju/ Jaseel Ismail 21-15, 14-21, 21-17).

Indonesia bt Thailand 3-2: Boonsak Ponsana (Tha) bt Taufik Hidayat 22-20, 21-19; Poompat S (Tha) bt Sony Kuncoro 21-19, 13-21, 21-10; Luluk H/ Alven Y bt Sudket Prapakamol/ Patapol N 21-13, 21-19; Markis Kido/ Hendra Setiawan bt Songpol A/ Nitipong S 21-14, 21-15; Simon Santoso bt Peerasak W 21-13, 21-11)

Group A: 1-Malaysia 2-Iran 3-Pakistan 4-Nepal

Group B: 1-Indonesia 2-Thailand 3-Vietnam

Group C: 1-India 2-Hong Kong 3- Singapore

Group D: 1-Korea 2-Chinese Taipei 3-Sri Lanka



Uber Cup: Singapore bt India 5-0 (Li Li bt Aparna Popat 16-21, 21-13, 21-16; Xing Aiying bt Saina Nehwal 21-15, 19-21, 21-17; Jiang Yanmei bt Meenakshi 24-22, 21-8; Jiang Yanmei/ Li Yuija bt Jwala G/ Shruti K 21-12, 21-18; Xing Aiying/ Mulya Shinta bt Saina Nehwal/ Aparna Balan 21-14, 21-15)

Group Y: 1-Korea 2-Chinese Taipei 3-Malaysia 4-Indonesia 5-Iran

Group Z: 1-Hong Kong 2-Singapore 3-India 4-Thailand 5-Pakistan

Rising stars impress at press meet

Pallav Deka/ badmintonmania.com

THE setting was ideal — The Media Room. It was indeed a new experience for the players, officials and press involved with badminton in India, the first of its kind where players had a session with the press immediately after the day’s matches.

The most promising junior players of the country – P Kashyap, Saina Nehwal, Anand Pawar and Aditi Mutatkar – made a good impression on the first day of the Open championships. They all showed a lot of confidence and answered in style.

Coming into this chapter of the Senior Nationals with each one of them backed with impressive performances in the domestic tournaments in the year 2005, they were oozing with a lot of confidence on putting up a good show at the Nationals.

Kashyap and Saina, the current Junior National champions, have had a great year so far. They have not only dominated the junior scene but have shocked a few of the seniors. Kashyap was not expected to win the Senior Major Ranking Tournament in Indore but he did it in style – beating Chetan Anand, Thomas Kurian, Janish K and Abhinn Shyam Gupta on the way.

Saina on the other hand made headlines by shocking eight-time Senior National Champion Aparna Popat in the final of the Asian Satellite Championships held at Delhi. She has also had victories over the other top-ranked players of the country including Trupti Murgunde and BR Meenakshi. Mittal Sports Trust has identified her as an international prospect and is supporting her. She believes that with more international exposure and a personal coach she will do well in international events as well. Both Kashyap and Saina come into this tournament with impressive performances at the PSPB Inter-Unit Badminton Championships held at Chennai last fortnight and that makes them strong contenders for the Bangalore nationals.

Aditi Mutatkar’s story is interesting and inspiring in itself. After sustaining a career-threatening injury to her knee she had to undergo an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) reconstruction. The comeback was not easy. She had to undergo rehabilitation — comprising various strengthening and stretching exercises, while fighting anxiety, depression and boredom from doing routine exercises day in and out. But she did overcome all that and after a few initial hiccups has started to show the talent and potential she possesses. It needs a lot of grit and determination to overcome an injury and perform. She has shown it all and her opponents need to beware of this gritty junior.

The fourth among the talented group is Anand Pawar. An aggressive player by nature he has registered creditable wins over senior players like Nikhil Kanetkar, JBS Vidyadhar and Utsav Mishra. Having shown a lot of promise in the last couple of years he reached the finals of two tournaments last season – the Asian Satellite at Delhi and the JRD Tata Memorial at Jamshedpur, and seems to be brimming with confidence.

He feels that as far as skill, speed, power and stamina is concerned he is on par with the seniors. Being accustomed to the conditions at the KBA and coming from badminton stock (being the son of Uday and Sujata Pawar) he is the player to watch.

All four players feel that the playing conditions and overall conduct of the tournament at this nationals are at par with any international tournament that they have participated. They feel that the ambience is good enough to bring out their best. They are appreciative of the concept of the press-player conference.

Kuncoro, Wang Chen make ABC a tournament to remember

Dev S Sukumar

Hyderabad, 12 September 2005: Twenty-nine years after Hyderabad hosted the Asian Badminton Confederation championships, the ABC returned to the city. As in 1976, Indonesia had a representative in the men's singles final: Sony Dwi Kuncoro was to play Malaysian Kuan Beng Hong for the title.

Of course, back in 1976, King was facing a much more formidable opponent. Badminton enthusiasts still remember the day when China's Hou Chia Chang produced a masterful display of control and deception to weave a web around King, who was more than ten years younger than him. The ABC was the highlight of the badminton season of that year in India, and Hou Chia crafted a climactic display that has only rarely been equalled.

Sony Dwi Kuncoro did what King couldn't all those years ago, when he beat Hong for the crown. Later, his team mates Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido made it a memorable day for their country when they annexed the men's doubles title, with an impeccable display against Lee Jae Jin and Jung Jae Sung of Korea.

Lee Jae Jin had also lost in the mixed doubles final; he and partner Lee Hyo Jung failed narrowly to pull off a dramatic three-game final against Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thounghthongkam. Lee Hyo Jung was more fortunate, as she won the women's doubles title along with Lee Kyung Won.

The women's singles gold went to Wang Chen of Hong Kong, who breezed through her opposition with nonchalant ease.

Boonsak troubles Kuncoro:
Kuncoro's stiffest test actually came in the quarterfinals. Boonsak Ponsana, all wristy deception and fluid feet, won the first game before the Olympic bronze medallist dug in deep and rose to a higher level. The match was a final before the final; Kuncoro's thundering jump smashes and Boonsak's sublime touch at the net producing a fine exhibition of badminton.

Wang Chen, meanwhile, had summarily dismissed all opposition. There was none to challenge her breathtaking crosscourt drops or the half-smashes on both flanks; and it was a matter of regret that the Chinese had decided against participating.

The doubles matches, as always, were stiffly fought. Lee Jae Jin and Jung Jae Sung, the world No.6 pair, were expected to win, but Setiawan and Kido had it surprisingly easy in the final. Perhaps Jae Jin was hampered by his heavily strapped right shoulder and the efforts of the mixed doubles final earlier on Sunday.

Despite the tight contest in the mixed doubles final, Sudket and Saralee were the overwheling favourites. Sudket was awesome, leaping a few feet in the air and nailing smashes with blood-curdling ferocity; Saralee sharp at the net and smashing powerfully when the need arose. The Thais demolished their opponents in the semis and quarters, and it took all the craft and power of Jae Jin and Hyo Jung to hold them up temporarily in the final. The Koreans won a close second game 17-14, and kept apace till 10-12 in the decider. But Sudket and Saralee had too many bullets left in their arsenal, and powered to the gold withouth giving one more point.

Saralee-Sathinee upset:
The big upset in the women's doubles was of Saralee T and Sathinee J in the quarterfinals, to the recent combination of Jo Novita and Greysia Polii of Indonesia. Novita and Polii have partnered in only three tournaments before this, but they played with supreme confidence, attacking and defending with equal felicity. In the semis, however, they ran into Reiko Shiota and Kumako Ogura, who played a smart tactical match -- chalked out perhaps by doubles legend and Japan coach Park Joo Bong -- and they took the sting out of the Indonesians by tossing everything to the baseline and inviting Polii and Novita to keep hitting. But the Indonesians ran out of steam after a while, and the Japanese eased into the final.

However, in the final awaited the crafty Kyung Won and Hyo Jung. Apart from a brief lapse in the second game, the Koreans were well on top, and coach Park Joo Bong must have had mixed feelings as he left the stadium. None of the Japanese could win a title.

Encouraging show from Indian youngsters:
The Indian performance, particularly from the youngsters, gave cause for cheer. Padkukone Academy-trainee Aditi Mutatkar, having just recovered from a right knee injury, had game point against Wang Chen in the pre-quarterfinal, but the world no.4 just about managed to edge past her 13-10.

Junior champion Saina Nehwal, who is reckoned to be the future of women's badminton in India, had match point at 10-7 in the second game of her pre-quarterfinal against Wong Mew Choo before the Malaysian pulled off a dramatic escape. Wong went on to lose in the quarters.

Another Padukone Academy-trainee, Sagar Chopda, took the first game off eventual semifinalist Lee Hyun Il, while Anand Pawar matched experienced Malaysian Roslin Hashim in the first game before his challenge fell tamely in the second.

India has now a new generation of shuttlers to look up to -- Aditi Mutatkar, Saina Nehwal, Sagar Chopda, Anand Pawar, P Kashyap and Jishnu Sanyal are among those who have shown plenty of promise in recent months.

The best performances, however, came from the more experienced Arvind Bhat and Chetan Anand. Arvind was all over Lee Hyun Il in their quarterfinal bout, but the Indian faltered at game point and the Korean eased through in the second game.

Chetan, having demolished Shoji Sato in their pre-quarterfinal bout, bewildered eventual finalist Kuan Beng Hong in the first game with his array of flicks and slow drops. Beng Hong could only watch helplessly as the Indian threatened to take the match away in quick time. But the effort had slowed down the Indian's legs, the stamina was suspect and the feet weary, and inevitably the Malaysian clawed his way back.

The most encouraging sight at the ABC was the presence of the Iranian women. This was their first international tournament outside their country. They played in a specially-designed outfit that covered them head to toe, having received permission from the ABC earlier. They got plenty of attention from the local press. They recorded all the important matches at Hyderabad, and one is sure the videos will be put to good use.

Results:

MS: Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Kuen Beng Hong (Mas) 15-10, 15-5.
WS: Wang Chen (Hkg) bt Kaori Mori (Jpn) 15-1115-7.
WD: Lee Kyung Won/ Lee Hyo Jung (Kor) bt Kumako Ogura/ Reiko Shiota (Jpn) 15-13, 8-15, 15-5.
MD: Markis Kido/ Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Lee Jae Jin/ Jung Jae Sung (Kor) 15-11, 15-7.
MXD: Sudket Prapakamol/ Saralee T (Tha) bt Lee Jae Jin/ Lee Hyo Jung (Kor) 15-11, 14-17, 15-10.