The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Missing stars topic of discussion

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Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009
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Sport - Badminton

Missing stars topic of discussion

S.R. Suryanarayan

BADMINTON / Qualification rounds begin

Host association in a fix
Uncertainty over two more stars’ participation

INDORE: Expectedly the withdrawal of defending champions Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal was the talking point here as the National badminton champion began on Tuesday with the qualifying rounds.

It is rare that the two top seeds should be absent for a National. Nobody is suggesting any motive, for injury is the bane of any sportsperson, more so in badminton where the strain on the limbs are extreme.

Big let down

Nonetheless as a host which is putting up a major show for the first time here, the Madhya Pradesh association’s plight can only be imagined.

As the MPBA Secretary Anil Chougule put it, “We had put up at least 25 to 30 posters all around the city highlighting the arrival of Saina Nehwal, currently India’s best player, to attract interest.”

The other side, as Chougule said, was convincing the sponsors that the competition still had stature and class.

What, however, did not help Chougule’s cause was the continuing rumours that a couple more players from the Petroleum sector might back out.

Even the chief referee S. Muralidharan seemed confused initially before the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Manager, Tilak Raj, who arrived on Tuesday, clarified that only Chetan and Saina — because of their injury problems — were ‘out’. Yet, he wished to reserve his “final word” until Wednesday, when the main draw is prepared.

This was the first the National would have had a few top-50 ranking players in the world in action.

Increased stress

Success has come through increased opportunities to play abroad, and with that increased stress. With a host of international events ahead in the next few days after the National, like the German, Dutch and India opens, the all-England, etc, the concern for top fitness is on the minds of many of these players. Missing a top-grade international tournament means slipping in world ranking.

In this scenario, where does the National stand? Speaking from New Delhi, V.K. Verma, the President of Badminton Association of India, said, “missing a National would deny the player a huge number of points for national ranking. We cannot force a player to play, rather we can only take a player’s word if he or she has grounds for skipping an event.

Mandatory attendance

“Our rule is that it is mandatory for a player to attend a national camp whenever it is called for to be considered for national selection. Ultimately it is the pride of playing for the country that a player has to decide on,” he said.

Meanwhile, quite a few walkovers marked the first day’s session in the qualifying phase for the open events. In all over 130 matches in various sections were scheduled for the day.

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