The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Highly satisfying: Chetan Anand

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Wednesday, Nov 05, 2008
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Highly satisfying: Chetan Anand

HYDERABAD: Chetan Anand, who created history by becoming the first Indian men’s shuttler to win a Grand Prix when he clinched the Bitburger championship in Germany recently, says that the European circuit has been the best phase of his entire career and is now focussing on next year’s All England championship. “That is one event which I should win for obvious reasons,” he said.

Chetan, who is now ranked World No. 15, says he got back the confidence and was a much improved player after losing his first final on the circuit — the Belgium Grand Prix — thanks to the training programme with the German squad. “That really boosted my confidence level and made me believe in myself,” he said.

“For, in the very next tournament (Bitburger Open) I was triumphant,” Chetan said.

Biggest win

“When I beat World No. 5 Sony Dwi Cuncoro in the Danish Open, it was the biggest win of my career and then I started thinking that I can beat any top-10 player.

“Overall, it has been a highly satisfying last four months for me on the circuit,” Chetan said.

“I am pleased with the way I am being allowed to compete in international events and I am still chasing that Olympic medal dream,” he added.

“Winning five titles and entering four finals this year is an achievement which any player would love to have,” said Chetan during a felicitation function at the Fateh Maidan Indoor Stadium.

“I owe a lot to my parents, in-laws (Jwala Gutta’s parents) and my special thanks to my coach Arif Sir (S.M. Arif) for agreeing to be the travelling coach on the circuit,” said a grateful Chetan.

Immediate goals

The National champion said that his next big assignments would be the China Open and the Hong Kong Super Series this month-end.

“Hopefully, I will continue to do well and be in the right frame of mind for the prestigious All England championship,” he concluded. — Principal Correspondent

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