The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Uday Pawar strikes a confident note

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

Sport

Sport - Badminton

Uday Pawar strikes a confident note

BANGALORE, JUNE 23. The standard of Indian doubles players is on the rise and within a year, Indian doubles teams can make their presence on the international badminton circuit, Uday Pawar, former international and the present coach of the BAI doubles camp, said here on Wednesday.

Pawar told The Hindu the presence of the Indonesian doubles expert, Hadi Sugiyanto had helped the Indian players. "Hadi is a dedicated trainer and with him we were able to improve the technical aspects of our players in the on-going doubles camp here. A continuous camp, with regular participation, will help our players", said Pawar.

He said the training was similar to those in vogue in China and Indonesia. "True, with Sugiyanto in charge, there is lot more intensity and the workload is more but the players are getting adjusted to it and I am sure they will find the difference", said Pawar.

Pawar also stressed the need to build junior combinations. "Right now we are working with the seniors, but it is better to start with juniors but they have the problems of attending long camps due to academics This is something, we have to sort out", he said.

Pawar said that the National calendar should be in tune with the International engagements. "So that our players can participate in major international events, without missing domestic championships."

While advocating the need for regular overseas exposure, Pawar said the players and coaches should be accountable for their performances.

He welcomed the BAI move to invite foreign players for domestic tournaments as their presence would provide better competition.

Overall, Pawar said, "I see a lot of positive things happening. We were really on a high when Gopi Chand won the All England title in 2001, but then there was a lull after that. The scene, however is much better now. We did well in the Commonwealth Games and improved our ranking to 14 in the World championship. There are quite a few promising juniors waiting in the wings. It took a Gopi Chand to emulate Prakash's feat after 20 years at All England. I am sure our next champion won't take that long'".

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