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India's top badminton players will have to improve their game if they have to achieve international recognition, says ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA
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Saina Nehwal
THE RECENTLY conducted IOC sponsored senior national badminton championships in Hyderabad threw up some significant points which are worth pondering over. For one thing it highlighted the fact that A.P continues to be a powerhouse in this sport and thanks to the presence of players such as Chetan Anand, J.B.S. Vidyadhar, Saina Nehwal, Gutta Jwala and Shruthi Kurien, the State seems likely to continue to do well in this sport for a few more years at least.
There was also the superb performance by Aparna Popat who retained her women's singles title for the seventh time in succession. It was a fine performance by this 26-year-old who is at her peak now.
She has retained a vice-like grip on the women's scene in badminton for the last several years. In fact, there was never any doubt about her being able to successfully defend her title. In every department of the game, she proved her superiority over her rivals in a very decisive manner.
Throughout the event, she was never even stretched into the third game by any of her opponents. All her victories were in straight games and, in the final, her commanding victory over Trupti Murgunde was remarkable. It is hardly to be expected that the final of a national championship would be as one sided as that. One has to admire Aparna's skills, stamina and motivation.
But the outcome also has another aspect to it. Looked at from another angle, it becomes obvious that the country has not been able to produce players of Aparna's level in recent times and that is not such a good sign for the sport in general. If one player is able to establish such a degree of mastery over a long period, then it does not speak well about the existing standards in that sport and its future development. Perhaps, a little introspection is needed to find out what can be done to generate more players of Aparna's calibre from various corners of this country.
Chetan Anand
However, in the men's section, the situation is more evenly balanced. There does seem to be some good competition among the top category of players right now, namely Chetan Anand, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Arvind Bhat, Sachin Ratti, J.B.S. Vidyadhar and others. Chetan who was runner-up to Abhinn Shyam last year, had to work extremely hard to get the title in Hyderabad.
Obviously, he was very thrilled after his victory but it is clear that he will have to be on his toes if he hopes to retain the trophy next year. That is how it should be in any sport.
Monopoly is undesirable in any walk of life and perhaps more so in sports where only stiff competition can breed excellence.
Arvind Bhat for once showed that he has all the requirements to emerge as a major player at the national level. This tall and wiry player has a good range of strokes and more importantly the right temperament and attitude to enable him to pose a threat to the best in the country.
However at the international level it may be a different story. Most of India's top players are already in their mid-twenties and they will have to make an extraordinary improvement in their game and that too within a very short span of time if they are to achieve the required level of excellence to perform well in the international arena.
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