The Hindu : Kerala News : Durability is his forte

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 28, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Durability is his forte

"I will always remember being part of the Indian teams that qualified for the Thomas Cup in 2000 and this year."

Jaseel P. Ismail

He remains one of India's finest ever doubles players and is still representing the Indian badminton team in international tournaments, 16 years after he played for the junior national team in the Netherlands. He says he does not have any immediate plans to quit in a chat with P.K. Ajith Kumar.

When Jaseel P. Ismail first played for India, E.K. Nayanar was the Chief Minister of Kerala; A.R. Rahman was just a composer of ad jingles; Rahul Dravid hadn't made his Test debut; and Aishwarya Rai was planning to become an architect.

Jaseel is still representing the Indian badminton team in international tournaments, 16 years after he played for the junior national team in the Netherlands. "And I have no immediate plans to quit," declares one of the most durable shuttlers India has ever produced. "I will continue to play till some player beats me out of the Indian team."

It's that supreme self-confidence and the pride in playing for the country that keep him going, long after most of his contemporaries quit the international sport.

He remains one of India's finest ever doubles players. Remarkably, he played in each of the doubles finals in the last 12 years and was the champion - in the company of Vijaydeep Singh first and then Vincent Lobo - on four occasions.

But it's the silver medal he won at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 that he cherishes most of all his achievements. "And I would always remember being part of the Indian teams that qualified for the Thomas Cup in 2000 and this year, says Jaseel, who is working as manager, sales, at the Indian Oil Corporation, Kochi.

"That I have been a regular member of the Indian teams at the Thomas Cup and the World Championships is something I would always be proud about."

Not that he doesn't have any regrets. "I know that I haven't fulfilled my potential as a singles player," he confesses. "Though injuries and the considerable success I have had in doubles are the main reasons for that, I wouldn't mind admitting that I was a bit laid back too."

Jaseel, a native of Kozhikode, is a bit worried that all the good players Kerala has produced since him shares the same trait. "These young kids should give singles a decent try before turning full-time doubles players. You know I used to play the singles till I was 23, and I had won the National junior boys' singles title in 1989."

He was the first Keralite to do that. He was considered one of the most promising singles players in India at the time. Former All-England champion P. Gopichand said that he had expected Jaseel to be a world class singles player.

"Of course that I couldn't do as well in singles as I could have is something I have to live with," he says. "And it's in singles that there's more glamour. And prize-money too."

Jaseel, who started playing only at the age of 13, after watching his elder brother and father play, strongly feels that badminton hasn't got its due in India.

"It's time the media and the sponsors paid us a little attention. Though I have nothing against cricket, it's a bit unfair that all other sports are ignored in this country. But you have to admit that the cricket administrators are doing a good job; they have marketed their sport well." He would also like to see badminton spreading to cities outside Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

"Ideally, all the districts in the State should conduct at least one tournament once a year. And I think the organisers could think of taking badminton to outdoors. You will get more people to watch it, I'm sure."

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