[h=1]Badminton in India had never had it so good[/h] http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other...a-had-never-had-it-so-good/article4252979.ece EXCERPTS: It was the year which saw the Indians shuttle to glory, literally. Indian badminton never had it so good — Saina Nehwal won the London Olympics bronze, Parupalli Kashyap became the first ever Indian shuttler to enter the Olympics men’s quarterfinals, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu won the Asian Youth (under-19) title besides a couple of outstanding results in major events. The world rankings of Sindhu (No. 19) and Kashyap (No. 14) are just another indicator of their growing stature. At the start of 2012 the scene looked somewhat grim with Saina struggling to regain her form. Once she won the Swiss Open title the confidence was back and so was her game. She soon won the Indonesian Open beating Liu Xuerui and the Thai Open getting the better of three-time World junior champion Ratchanok Inthanon. Just the kind of wins she was desperately looking for in the build-up to the London Games. “With the huge load of that Olympic medal off my shoulder, I am more relaxed, confident and a better stroke-player now,” said Saina while stressing that 2012 was her best year by all means. In the dock for skipping the Syed Modi GP, Saina insisted that she was not ready to aggravate her troublesome knee ahead of a hectic schedule. For someone who is touted by national coach Pullela Gopi Chand as the next best bet after Saina, 17-year-old Sindhu threw enough hints of her remarkable rise winning the Asian Youth (under-19) title, and then shocking Olympic gold medallist Liu Xuerui in the China Open Super Series quarterfinals. She also reached the Malaysian Open Super semifinals but had to miss the World juniors because of an injury. She capped off the year as a finalist in the Syed Modi GP which should augur well not only for her but also the sport. In men’s section, the cynosure of all was the gifted Kashyap, who braves frequent bouts of asthma and opponents with equal ease. Semifinal appearances in the India Open Super Series and Indonesian Open Super Series before the London Games quarterfinals loss to World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei were proof that he meant business. The Syed Modi GP title, his maiden GP title, was the icing on the cake of what has been a thoroughly memorable year for him. However, the disappointment was the flamboyant women’s doubles pair of Gutta Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa, which faded away after its World championship bronze last year. With Jwala taking a long break after the Olympics, it was difficult for Ashwini to make an impact on the international stage. Looking to the future, young guns like Guru Sai Dutt, winner of the Tata Open, and Pratul Joshi, who shocked former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in the first round of the Syed Modi GP, are on the wings waiting to grab the big opportunities. The future too looks good what with the $1 million Indian Badminton League also launched.
[h=1]Satisfying year for Indian Badminton: Gopi[/h] http://newindianexpress.com/sport/article1397490.ece EXCERPTS: It was a big year for Indian badminton as Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal at the London Olympics. Controversies apart, which cropped up late in the year, Pullela Gopichand has reasons to be satisfied as chief coach of the Indian team. “Overall, it has been a satisfying year, with Saina’s bronze at London Olympics being the highlight. But having said that the performances of other players have also been good. (Parupalli) Kashyap did well. “Young Sindhu was up in the twenties in world rankings. Gurusaidutt had some good performances. Sai Praneeth and K Srikanth too had some impressive performances,’’ said India’s chief coach while assessing India’s performances in 2012. The whole of 2012 has been very good for her. We worked on her defence, attack and net play. We made a few changes which were important, particularly on the fitness and stroke play. We could finally achieve some excellent results like the back-to-back titles at the Thailand GP and Indonesian Open Super Series. Olympic bronze was the icing on the cake. She also won the Denmark Open Super Series title. On the turning point and beating Chinese players: The Indonesian Open Super Series was one of the big wins this year. It was a great confidence booster before the Olympics. Victories over the Chinese players (Wang Yihan, Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian) has made her a much stronger player. She is backed it up with excellent performances. On targets for next year: We will be targeting the All England and the World Championship next year. We hope she does well in these tournaments. On Kashyap’s rise: Reaching the quarterfinals in the Olympics was a fantastic performance for Kashyap. Winning the title at Lucknow has made him a more confident player. His victory over China’s Chen Long and reaching the semifinals of the Super Series showed his improvement as a player. It will be a challenging year for Kashyap. I expect him to break into top eight in 2013 if he continues with his good form. On PV Sindhu I’m happy with the way she has progressed. We will work on her strokes and defence. She has to work on consistency and I expect her to perform much better next year. It will be a build-up year for Sindhu. On the progress of other Indian players: If you look at the performances of Gurusaidutt, Sai Praneeth, Srikanth, we had some good results. We had two Indians in the semifinals in the Macau event. In the Tata Open semifinals we had four Indians. We need to build on that and players should work much harder in the new season.
my review : kashyap is improving much... his style is also a joy to watch now... next year, i expect him in break the top 10... saina : no need to review... sindhu : she is good, has a very good chop, drop shot etc. problem is her footwork and defense. fortunately she has a long leg,so she can cover the court well although her footwork is not smooth. sindhu will have problem facing a player who can move the shuttle well. she is not patient enough too, in many rallies, she committed some unforced error no worry, she is still young, it's so typical for young player. gopi did well, and he can see the weakness on sindhu. but i am afraid, too much hope for sindhu. let her rise step by step, she is only 17 yo. for sai praneeth, i wont change my opinion, i cant see him becoming a world beater. something is lacking. he shoiuld have a killing weapon, but he doesnt. he can become a good top 20 or 30 someday though. i hope he can prove me wrong
... but what's really worrying is that through all of this report-card business, there has been no mention about arguably the best MS player India has had in the past 10 years, and why he is not performing to potential, and why nothing has been really done to rectify that...
Yep. I think you are mentioning about Chetan Anand. He definitely had an itch in his personal life which severely affected his career, i guess. Other than that, he has all the weapons which many youngsters possess. But he lacks fitness. He has already crossed 30. His body does not cooperate to his tunes which is obvious. He said in recent interview that he is trying hard to come back to top 50(Will it makes good to his future??? ... Recent development(money) in indian badminton has given him that motivation???? .. Only time will tell .
Nope. Not Chetan Anand. He has been over and done for many years now. I'm referring to Ajay Jayaram. No disrespect to everything that Kashyap has achieved or will, but it is AJ who really had/has the potential to be a consistent winner at the very top. He has the game, the hunger, the aggression, the power, the reach, the guile, the... but for some reasons unknown, he has gone off the rails through this year, despite showing flashes of brilliance. Despite having Tom John. There is a story behind this that apparently no one at BAI or Gopi's Academy or anywhere, want to talk about. The losers are Ajay, and India. The winners are most of the top players in the world.
[h=1]Badminton in 2012: The good, the bad and the ugly[/h] http://www.deccanchronicle.com/121231/sports-other-sports/article/badminton-2012-good-bad-and-ugly EXCERPTS: Hyderabad: Much like a shuttlecock being smacked about on the court, Indian badminton had its share of good and bad moments in 2012. From the high of a historic Olympic show by Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap to the low of chief national coach Pullela Gopichand being dragged into a row over selection matters by the Maharashtra-based Prajakta Sawant, the sport witnessed it all. The good: From the beginning of the year, the nation expected Saina to carry the torch at the London Games in the women's singles and Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa were considered best bets in the women’s doubles event, but the real suspense hung around who could fill the men’s singles spot on the contingent. It was a toss-up between Ajay Jayaram and Kashyap and the former was gaining ground in a fiercely-fought race. But then came the India Open in New Delhi and by a stroke of luck, Jayaram fell by the wayside after losing in the second round to Lee ChongWei while Kashyap qualified after he made the semifinals. The couple of months that followed saw some rousing performances from Saina and Kashyap. While Saina won the Indonesia Open Superseries and Thailand Open Grand Prix, Kashyap scored a brilliant win over then world no.3 Chen at Jakarta to establish his credentials as an Olympian. What happened in London is now part of folklore. Saina brought home India’s first ever Olympic bronze in badminton, while Kashyap became the first Indian male shuttler to enter the quarter-finals. Kashyap later went on to win the prestigious Arjuna Award, his first-ever national championship and finally an international title, when he won the Syed Modi Memorial Grand Prix in Lucknow last week. The Bad: The Cut throat nature of International came to the fore at the London Games. Eight women’s doubles players were disqualified from the Games for deliberately throwing their matches in order to secure favourable draws in the next round and seemingly caught in the crossfire were Jwala and Ashwini, who were knocked out after results of the other matches in their groups went the other way. Their repeated appeals fell on deaf ears. Earlier this month, Saina found herself amid a controversy after she pulled out of the first round of the Syed Modi GP in Lucknow, citing a knee strain. That it happened when she was on match point meant several eyebrows were raised. Some even questioned her commitment in light of an ever-growing endorsement roster. The ugly: Badminton has long been a battleground between the players and the establishment. The latest such incident involved Prajakta Sawant, who accused national coach Gopichand of “nepotism” and “mental harassment”. She filed a case in the Bombay High Court, which in turn rapped Gopi on the knuckles, questioning his ethics as a coach for running his own academy.
He has been in the reckoning and in current Indian scenario, BAI needs players more then, the players who are potentials like Ajay needing it... There is hardly a chance to chose one amongst two players that level. If he has some good results to back up no story could hold... Alright he might need to work a bit harder but then the fighters turn the tide when the wind isnt flowing in their direction.... Wish him Good Luck.... in the new year...
Why so few countries in Modi International ? Why is it that players from so many countries did not participate in this Modi International ? Is it because of the amount of prize money ? - never mind the player rankings.
I wish I knew! The silence however, speaks more volumes than anything else, IMO. The fact that AJ began at the Padukone academy before he made the decision to make it on his own in Europe (which at the time was akin to financial suicide) and more recently, has relocated back to India (with Tom John) but is still not consistent with his pickings or with his conditioning... there are just too many anomalies to his situation.
Is he training on his own now? I think he needs to go back to Padukone or better still Gopi to improve.
[h=1]Gopichand, BAI praise Indian shuttlers[/h] http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gopichand-bai-praise-indian-shuttlers/314427-5-135.html EXCERPTS: National badminton coach Pulella Gopichand has praised the shuttlers, including Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap for their performance on the global stage which he said has given a fillip to the game in the country. For the first time in the recent history of Indian badminton, as many as three Indians found themselves in the top-20 rankings in the world. London Olympics bronze medalist, Saina ended the year as the third-best women player in the world, while Kashyap, who is the first Indian man player to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympics this year, achieved a career-best world No.14. Rising shuttler PV Sindhu, who enacted a giant-killing act in September when she beat 2012 Olympic gold medalist Li Xureui of China and reached the women's singles final in the Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold, also finished the year at a career-best ranking of 19. Gopichand said, "This year has witnessed a phenomenal improvement in Indian badminton. I'm confident of seeing more quality players emerge in the coming year." BAI President Akhilesh Das Gupta also heaped praise on the shuttlers, saying, "I congratulate all Indian badminton players for the good show. Saina (Nehwal) is a shining example for Indian sports today. It's very heartening to see that our training system is reaping results. "The future of Indian badminton looks extremely bright with players like Kashyap and Sindhu improving by leaps and bounds, and many other shuttlers emerging on the horizon." The rise of Indian badminton also witnessed the launch of the path-breaking $1 million Indian Badminton League, which is scheduled to be held in June-July, with the best shuttlers of the world and India expected to participate. Ashish Chadha, CEO of Sporty Solutionz Pvt Ltd, which is is the Commercial Partner for planning and executing the IBL, said, "The Indian Badminton League will take the sport to the next level."
After having such a good year last year, it's going to be a challenge to maintain the same rate of improvement.
Dunno why you want to bring them into this thread as a reply to my post since I only refer to Indian badminton.
Indian badminton is growing day by day which is a proof of what has happened aftermath of Saina's huge success in Indian badminton. Its becoming quite common nowadays in India that parents are gifting badminton rackets instead of Cricket bats to their children. There are many youngsters thriving in huge lines to participate in local badminton competition which was recently held in chennai(one of metropolitan cities of India). Quite interesting to know that. I was happier even to know that they waited for hours for their turn to come.. Really happy to hear that. The condition prevails now is a complete 'U' turn of what prevailed in the previous year. Why is that situation? If we carefully analyse the situation , we can clearly able to see the motivation created by the youngster Saina Nehwal behind it. GopiChand has pointed out that 2012 was a wonderful year of success for the badminton of INDIA. Really speaking, thats true. Out of his own interest, he produced such a talent who can compete against any top badminton players of the world . Next in row, P.V.Sindhu who is a child star starting to follow the footsteps of Saina with carefull guidance of Gopichand. Really we are in a position to praise this coach who has dedicated his life to this sport which we cant see in anybodyelse. . Many 15 year old girls has started to do big in badminton of India nowadays. Out of those, if we wanna mention specifically, we can find two or three who will do big in the arena. 1) Ruthvika Shivani. 2) Rituparna Das. In men's section, many youngsters has started to do more with the help of Gopichand. Many players has come under top 50 in the past year alone. I believe in many youngsters who are doing excellently well in recent days. 1) K.Srikanth 2) Guru Sai Dutt 3) B.SaiPraneeth 4) Kashyap 5) Ajay Jayaram 6) Anand Pawar 7) Sourabh Verma 8) Sameer Verma These are some persons who will shine the name of Indian badminton and take that to next level. I wish all the very best to all these players to perform well in this wonderful year 2013 and prove their talent to whole world.
Yup could be. Anyway what scorpion1 said is very true at least to me. I predict loss of dominance in WS & MD. WS - Injury prone probably due to trying too hard, WSX on her way out it apprears MD - Only 1 aging pair with no credible replacement.
