After driving an actual excessive in 2022, when India snatched the Thomas cup from below the unsuspecting eyes of badminton superpowers like China, Indonesia, Denmark, Malaysia and so on and cleaned up the badminton occasion at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games by beautiful the relaxation of the assembled nations, once we claimed gold in ladies and males singles, gold in males’s doubles and of course the gold in the staff championship, we’ve got began to see a droop in our shuttling fortunes.
The begin of the worldwide circuit in 2023 has been disastrous as it has seen an alarming droop in the kind of our gamers.
In the 5 most essential tournaments to this point, good efficiency in these occasions would have seen us entering into good spots for the choice for the 2024 Olympics to be held in Paris: the choice course of begins in May this 12 months.
India despatched the strongest attainable squad to take part in the 5 tournaments, however we may win only one title, and that’s the males’s doubles title at the Swiss open final week. The 5 tournaments that I’ve talked about above, are the Malaysia Open, the India Open, the German Open, the All England and the Swiss championships.
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So what’s improper with our beloved sport and what SHOULD be finished to revive our fortunes?
It is a tall order to write this piece however I’ll try it.
Let us begin with the three males’s singles specialists who certainly have been the architects of that extraordinary Thomas cup victory. Lakshya Sen, kidambi Srikant and HS Prannoy.
Belying all odds the 22-year-old Lakshya Sen had gatecrashed into the high 10 world rating, reaching a excessive of sixth rank. He defeated each participant in the high ten checklist, together with the mighty Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, in the German open semifinals. He performed in the finals of the All-England and to all pundits and analysts of the sport, if a brand new primary had to emerge in the world, it had to be this Almora boy.
But alas, dangerous kind and “frequent sicknesses” as his coach Vimal Kumar opined to me, have been the main causes of his slump from world 6 to 25 as per BWF’s latest rankings.
“He has had this problem of getting fever often, ever since his nose surgery last year. This has affected his movements and concentration” Vimal Kumar mentioned.
“Another purpose why his rating has slipped drastically is that he misplaced the factors accrued in the German Open and All England of final 12 months”. (Points are shed after the completion of one year).
“So that is the problem but I am sure he will bounce back. We are also taking medical advice for his problem with the fever.” says the former chief coach of India, Vimal Kumar.
Lakshya performed in all 5 tournaments however failed to transcend 2nd spherical in any occasion. In the Malaysia Open, he misplaced to teammate HS Prannoy. The bearded and fashionable Prannoy beat him 22-24/21-12/21-18. At the India open, he smashed previous Prannoy in the first spherical 21-14/21-15, displaying us what he’s succesful of. But in the second spherical, he fell to Dane Rasmus Gemke, who gained 16-21/21-18/21-15.
In the German Open, he allowed the French ace, Christo Popov, to put him on the defensive most of the time in the 21-19/21-16 win which was very shocking, to say the least.
In the All England, the Indian shuttler began with a bang towards the very harmful and versatile Chou Tien Chen, profitable 21-18/21-19. But the very subsequent spherical noticed him enjoying with out a lot creativeness, gradual on his ft and making ludicrous errors for one together with his expertise. Anders Anderson of Denmark confirmed him the exit 13-21/15-21 in a really one-sided match.
In the Swiss Open, Sen very surprisingly fell in the first spherical to Hong Kong participant Lee Cheuk Liu 18-21/11-21.
Lakshya can have to roll up his socks as he’s the one participant who can carry us out of the abyss In which we’re wallowing now.
The purpose is that each Prannoy and Kidambi are slowing down, regardless that Prannoy particularly performed some good badminton. In the Malaysian Open he reached the quarter-finals after defeating Sen and Indonesian Chiro Auro Dwi 21-19/15-21/21-26.
As said above Prannoy misplaced to Sen in the first spherical at the All England and he misplaced in the second spherical to Anthony Ginting of Indonesia 20-22/21-15/17-21. But in the subsequent championship, the Swiss Open, he once more recovered his kind and shocked the All-England runners-up Shi Yu Qi 21-17/19-21/ 21-17.
This was an actual thriller with Prannoy at his scintillating finest. He was a shade sooner and the higher participant at the internet.
It will be mentioned that of the three Thomas cup stalwarts from India, Prannoy gave the finest show. However, it was clear that he’s getting drained sooner than earlier than and he takes longer to get well.
That is the age issue which is extra obvious when Kidambi Srikant takes to the courtroom.
In the Malaysian Open, Srikanth crashed out in spherical 1, to Japanese Kento Nishimoto 19-21/14-21. The Indian Open noticed Kidambi convey bundled out in the first spherical by Viktor Axelsen 14-21/19-21. Ditto in the All England as he performed a really subdued sport crashing out in spherical 1, as soon as once more, to the fast-rising Japanese, Naraoke, 17-21/15-21.
In the Swiss Open, he did one higher when he reached the second spherical the place he misplaced to Lee Cheuk Yin of Hong Kong 20-22/16-21.
The former top-ranked participant in the world should mirror on and should analyse his profession. With age not on his facet he should contemplate retiring at the opportune time. Otherwise, he might be enjoying like Saina Nehwal, additionally a former world no 1, who retains enjoying however doesn’t transcend the first spherical in most tournaments.
The drawback that Indian badminton is dealing with is that the subsequent technology of shuttlers in males’s singles is just not ok to be top-ranked.
These embrace the new nationwide champion Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George, Priyanshu Rajawat, and so on, who’re nonetheless struggling. It might take just a few years earlier than they turn out to be a pressure. That is why it is essential to have Lakshya Sen firing bullets yet again on the circuit.
Ditto is the drawback in ladies singles. With Saina struggling to keep afloat, the burden of main the Indian assault has fallen on PV Sindhu. But beset by accidents she is woefully out of kind and has not been progressing past the first or second spherical.
“Sindhu can at all times make a comeback. But she is enjoying very tentatively and not displaying a lot confidence. She has a pure attacking sport and that’s her forte. She is 26 years previous. There isn’t any purpose why she will’t get again to the high,” Vimal Kumar said.
In Malaysia, Carolina Marin, the Spanish legend, defeated Sindhu 21-12/
10-21/21-15 in the India ope. Sindhu was a terrible disappointment as she repeated last year’s performance. She was defeated by Supanida Katethon 14-21/ 20-22.
Taking a break from the German open, Sindhu looked fresh and raring to go for the jugular of her opponents. But this time it was Chinese Zhang Yi Man who toyed with the Indian badminton queen, winning 21-17/21-11.
In the Swiss open, another shock awaited Indian badminton. She took care of a local girl to set up a second-round clash with Indonesian qualifier Putri Kusuma only to lose 21-16/12-21/21-18.
And just like in men’s singles, the women are going through a crisis as well.
The problem that we will face in times to come is to scout a strong girl or girls, train them hard, make them physically strong and make sure they do not lose out to the opposition in strength and fitness.
But this is easier said than done.
In the tournaments, Malvika Bansod, Akarshi Kashyap, and Tasneem Mir played as well as they could, but they could not take a game off any opponent.
Gayatri Gopichand and Teressa jolly are the new stars in making. It is so ironic that for years India was known for its prowess in singles. But now it is the men’s doubles pair of Sai Satwick Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty who dominate and have ensured that doubles are not neglected.
Similarly, our two girls Gayathri Gopichand and Teressa Jolly are slowly but surely stepping into the large shoes of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa.
These two had a good outing, with the cherry on the cake being a semifinal slot in the All England just like last year.
On their way there, they took care of 4 highly rated and experienced pairs, including from Thailand, the 7th seeds Jangephon and Rawinda, to defeating them 21-18/21-14 in 42 minutes. They then beat Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hiroto 21-14/24-22. Their next victims were from China, Li Weng Wai/ Li Xuan Xuan who were defeated in a tense struggle 21-14/18-21/21-12
What comes across now seems to be two mature girls combining well. The synchronisation is perfect since the understanding between the two is excellent.
They are rotating well, have tight serves and are willing to go into the attack at the first opportunity. Makings of true blue-blooded doubles mind.
They lost in the semifinals to Korean pair Baek Ha Na and Keep So Hee tamely 10-21/10-21.
And of course, the stars of the Indian squad were the pair of dynamic duo Saisatwick and Chirag Shetty.
They have become as good as the best in the event. Highly aggressive in their approach to the game, and they are equally good in defence.
The good thing is that they rotate strikes well. And they are focused. One great thing about them is their middle-line defence. Both position themselves nicely to take the shuttle in that area and turn defence into offence.
Starting the season at the Malaysian Open as the 6th BWF ranked pair, they put it across Choi Sol Gyu and Kim won Ho of Korea in a 21-16/21-13 win. The second round saw them defeating the top Indonesian pair of Mohammad Fikri and Bagas Maulana 21-19/22-20.
In the quarter-finals, the Indians ran into Liu You Chuan and Ou Xuan Yi of China and won 17-21/22-20/21-9. But another Chinese pair of Liang Wei Long and Wang Chang proved too strong as the Indian pair were defeated 21-16/15-21/21-15.
Sai Satwick despite being very fit, is also very prone to injuries. The pair could not defend their title at the Indian open as a shoulder injury to Sai forced them to give a walkover.
In the Swiss Open, they realised they had a chance and they played accordingly.
Mathias Boe the national doubles coach and one who looks after the training of the two told me after the Thomas cup, “these guys are always hungry for more training.”
“Even once we end a gruelling session and others are packing up, these two need extra. They are enjoying effectively, little question however let me inform you their finest is but to come.”
This is the spirit they have shown always. No wonder they are now literally feared in the BWF tour. In Basel, they escaped by a whisker in their second-round match against Feng Chen Lee and Peng Jen Lee 12-21/21-17/28-26 in a fast-paced affair which kept them on the court for a good 78 minutes.
This was a match where their character showed. Three times they faced match point, but they never gave up. Cool, calm and collected they wrapped up this match in style.
They played three gruelling matches in the tournament which went to three games, before landing in the finals against Reng Xian Yu and Tan Qiang In of China. Sai Satwick and Chirag won 21-19/22-20.
This Indian squad has a lot of hard work to be done and the coaches headed by Pullela Gopichand have to burn the midnight oil and come up with ideas to bring Indian badminton on track.
The scenario is bleak as apart from Sai Satwick and Chirag Shetty we do not have a title winner. Podium finish has seemingly become a distant dream.
Both men’s and women’s singles events are in dire straits and require major surgery. In mixed doubles, no one can pick up the mantle.
Gayatri Gopichand and Teressa Jolly are no doubt playing well, but they have a long way to go before being called match winners under any conditions.
So there are problems no doubt but nothing that cannot be sorted out.
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