The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Indian shuttlers for Super Series

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Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009
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Indian shuttlers for Super Series

BANGALORE: The top badminton players of the country, including Anup Sridhar, Arvind Bhat, Anand Pawar, Chetan Anand, P. Kashyap, Saina Nehwal and Aditi Mutatkar, will play in the two Asian Super Series events — Malaysian Open (January 6 to 11) and Korea Open (Jan. 13 to 18) scheduled to be held at Kuala Lumpur and Seoul respectively.

The Indian squad left for Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night and the return of Anup to the big stage will be watched with keen interest by the Indian fans. Anup, who suffered an ankle injury, was out of action for nearly four months.

Anup all set

Anup, who resumed training two months ago, said on the eve of his departure to Kuala Lumpur that he was in good shape and ready for his comeback event. “It was a bit frustrating to be out of action so long and I look forward to a good beginning. I have prepared well and what’s more important is that I feel pretty fit and I hope to put up a good show,” said the former Indian National champion.

Anup, despite a drop in ranking to the mid 40s, gets a spot in the main draw thanks to a poor turnout of Chinese players for the Malaysian Open. “That in a way is an advantage for him. He should defend his points and if he wins a couple of rounds, he can improve his ranking,” said his coach U. Vimal Kumar.

The coach, however, expressed guarded optimism about Sridhar’s form. “He has not played in a major competition after recovering from injury and is going straight into a Super Series where the game’s best are going to be around. It will be tough,” said Vimal.

Vimal felt that among the Indians World junior champion Saina had the best chance. “I think she will make a big impact, given her current form and a not so challenging field,” he said. — Special Correspondent

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