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Thursday, Sep 25, 2008
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Confusion rules in Kerala camp

Principal Correspondent

KOCHI: Confusion reigned in the Kerala badminton camp on the eve of the State team’s departure for this weekend’s South Zone championship in Puducherry.

The team leaves on Thursday for the three-day championship but no one is sure whether National doubles star Sanave Thomas would make it to Puducherry.

“Sanave is scheduled to play a tournament in Germany next week along with the Indian team. But since we have a crucial men’s semifinal against Andhra Pradesh, I had asked the BAI Secretary L.C. Gupta to delay his departure by a day,” said S. Muralidharan, the Kerala Badminton Association secretary and the vice president of BAI, the national association.

“Mr Gupta has agreed to it and has instructed the BAI liaison officer in Delhi to book Sanave’s flight tickets accordingly. But now, I’m not sure and I’ve not been able to get Sanave over the phone too.”

Kerala won the National Games men’s team title and last year finished runner-up in the South Zone but this time, despite the return of former Asian Satellite champion Thomas Kurien after three years, the team doesn’t inspire confidence.

Big problem

“Without Sanave it will be a big problem, he played singles and doubles last year. It has upset all of us,” said Mr. Muralidharan.

Thomas Kurien, K.A. Anish and Joy T. Antony will be the team’s pillars of strength in singles but surprisingly it is the doubles — where Kerala is a dominant force in the country — which is causing much anxiety.

“However, we have a good chance of winning the junior boys’ title,” said Thomas Kurien, the Kerala captain.

The ten-day State camp was also not a smooth affair. The players had to play with old, used shuttles and were not too happy about it.

The Kerala Badminton Association has a tie-up with Yonex but this time there was a shortage of shuttles because a shipment was delayed, said its secretary.

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