It's been a rather disconcerting first day for India at the 2016 Bonny China Masters GP Gold. Apparently, someone goofed up big-time on the travel arrangements from Singapore to Jiangsu, China. It seems the team was forced to fly back to India from Singapore and then fly out again to China. Instead of a five-hour flight and an early arrival on Sunday afternoon, the team hit the venue very late on Monday. And that meant the lead Men's Singles players were forced to play barely a few hours after touching down in Jiangsu. That didn't go very well for Kidambi Srikanth who crumbled against Lin Yu Hsien in just half an hour. So tired was the Indian that he lost 8 consecutive points in Game 1 (12-13 all the way to 12-21) and another 7 consecutive points in Game 2. HS Prannoy fared better - he fought back from 10-19 to 18-19 before losing Game 1 - and had to dig extra deep to finally overcome Soong Joo Ven. Parupalli Kashyap did not play (and he is out of the Olympics run as well). Nor did Sameer Verma. The entries in the other disciplines (WS, WD and MD) have had plenty of rest as they were not required to play on Day 1.
Feel for the guys. Happened to me once in 2012. Had to take a flite for an interview. Got delayed 4 hrs. (8am became 12:30 pm IIRC). To make things worse, I had taken an 1 am bus from Electronic City to Airport, since Bengalurus airport is basically on another country/planet to the rest of d city. All in all reached interview room at 5 (non AC taxi from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai in rush hour). Late and looking like a zombie. The interview feeled like an FBI interrogation at Gitmo. Needless to say the rest, I guess
In the MD match between India's Pranaav Chopra & Akshay Dewalkar and Singapore's Terry Hee & Loh Kean Hean, there was an amazing behind-the-back return by Dewalkar. Usually, a trick shot like that doesn't help win the rally. But here, it was different.
@Oldhand, Does Srikanth's ranking go even below? Would he qualify for RIO ? I can't get rid of him from my mind, such a huge talent going downhill . What is the possibility of Prannoy's qualification?
At this moment, it seems very unlikely that Srikanth will slip so far down that he will miss the Olympic bus. However, he is hardly in form (although that could change) and his game has stagnated to a terrible low. From a career high of World No.4 in September 2015, he has slipped to No.13... and could soon be overtaken by one or more Europeans. It is near impossible for another Indian to make his way into the top 16 before the qualifying period ends in May. So, rules being rules, although Prannoy is playing fantastically well and Srikanth is not, Srikanth will still be the only Rio qualifier from India.
PV Sindhu in a dreamy mood as her dream run continues in China Masters! HS Prannoy in action! Jwala Gutta happy!
Ajay jayaram is 20 in the BWF ranking. Considering the rule of 2 per nation, china's 2 players, Hongkong's 1 player, Denmark's 1 player will go out of contention. So, he may reach to 16 and 2nd qualifier for india. Am i right @Oldhand?
Race to Rio India 2nd MS http://bwf.tournamentsoftware.com/ranking/category.aspx?id=11126&category=2152 According to this link dated April 28, 2016 Srikanth Kidambi is 10 (Qualifying rank) Ajay Jayaram is 13 (Qualifying rank) HS Prannoy is 14 (Qualifying rank) Gopichand has two players to select one spot. If he goes by highest rank Ajay goes. I hope HS Prannoy is picked!
How come Srikanth is 10 despite never winning even a practice match. There are more deserving player who should be placed higher than him.
He's not exactly ranting, is he? Srikanth's ranking is gonna drop further, and massively at that. Unless, of course, he manages to go far in a tournament somewhat soon. Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk
""despite never winning even a practice match."" If this is not ranting then dunno what is. Yes, his ranking will go down. And massively. So ...
Nope, it doesn't work that way. The 'two per NOC (National Olympic Committee)' is only when more than one player (or pair) is ranked in the top echelon. The top echelon comprises 16 ranks for singles and 8 ranks for doubles. The BWF rank (the yardstick here) stays the same even if someone in the top echelon is ineligible by nationality rules. (However, a spot does open up if a player is removed from contention by his or her NOC - as in the case of Kento Momota.) Gopichand's hands are tied as the 'rules' on Olympic selection are pretty much set in concrete. Kidambi Srikanth will be India's MS entry unless Srikanth himself decides to skip the Olympic Games.
