The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Chetan Anand to lead Indian challenge

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Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006
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Sport - Badminton

Chetan Anand to lead Indian challenge

Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI: Chetan Anand, ranked 26th in the world men's badminton rankings list (November 9, 2006), is the performer every player from Denmark to South Korea wants to beat in the men's draw of the Indian International badminton championships.

Denmark's Michael Kristiansen, coming here with the Portugal Open men's singles title in his pocket, hopes to continue the winning streak in conditions where humidity is only one of many adversaries. The 25-year-old is part of a four-member Danish squad here; all singles exponents in Peter Mikkelsen (65th), Kristopher Stampe and Dennis Prehn.

Heat factor

Mikkelsen had lost to Chetan at the recent Denmark Open in a second round match, so the Dane is aware of the task before him in case both cross paths again this week. "The heat is a factor we have to get used to, competition in Asia is always tough," he said. Prehn, Denmark's junior national champion in 2004, is one of hand-picked talents to have benefited from Asian tours under Peter Gade, current world men's number three.

Denmark's attempt to acclimatise juniors to Asian conditions in the initial stages of their career is an example of European planning. "I played two weeks in Malaysia and then another month in Thailand. It was a very good learning experience," said the 17-year-old, expected to convert promise into performance on his first week in India.

Anand went to Europe as part of an Indian squad, among whom P. Kashyap reached the Saarbruchen tournament semifinals and Ajay Jayaram advanced into the quarterfinals at Arhus. "There is so much smart badminton happening these days that even on your best day, leading players win just using their brains," said Anand, looking at the gains from the Euro tour.

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