Indian shuttlers have been making waves in majors like the World championship, Commonwealth Games and many Super Series events. But, when it comes to the Asian Games, it is a different proposition.
“It is as tough as any World Championship and it will be no different this time around too,” said Saina Nehwal, now training in Bangalore under Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar. It will be interesting to see how her chemistry with chief National coach for the Asiad, Pullela Gopi Chand, would be at Incheon!
With only the top two players from each country given entries to the Games and the draw likely to be a bit more favourable because of this, it will still be a demanding task for the Indians to change the script for a nation which has so far won only seven bronze medals in all since 1962 (when badminton was introduced).
The only singles medal for India was won by Syed Modi in 1982 when he got a bronze.
The last time India won a badminton medal at the Games was a men’s team bronze in 1986.
Of the top 10 male players in the world, seven are from Asia. Saina Nehwal (No. 7) and P.V. Sindhu (No. 10), playing in her maiden Asiad, are among the seven Asian women in the top 10.
Pullela Gopi Chand has pinned more hopes on women’s singles and doubles pair of G. Jwala and Ashwini Ponnappa.
“We are definitely confident but again you need a little bit of luck on a given day. We have the potential to be the best in the business and hope to rise to the occasion,” feels Jwala.
If the recent Commonwealth Games and the World championship performances are any indication, inconsistency is a major source of worry — as the form of the top Indians falters from brilliant to brittle in the space of few days.
For someone who was tipped to win a gold in the absence of Saina, Sindhu ended up with a bronze in the Commonwealth Games. She made amends by picking her second bronze at the Worlds even as Saina lost in the quarterfinals.
In men’s singles, the 2014 CWG gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap was a huge disappointment in the World championships.
Men's challengeThe men’s singles challenge at Incheon will be in the form of Kashyap and Kidambi Srikkanth, with the latter certainly not showing the kind of form he was expected to display after winning the 2013 Thailand Open and finishing runner-up at the 2014 India Open Grand Prix.
Statistics suggest that the big powers like China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan continue to dominate with a tally of 88 gold medals in all Asian Games.
World No. 1 and 2014 World championship runner-up Lee Chong Wei should capitalise on the absence of the retired, five-time world champion Lin Dan while in women’s singles, the 2012 Olympic champion Li Xuerui and defending champion Wang Shixian would be keen to make up for the loss at the recent Worlds by clinching a gold in Incheon.
The presence of Chen Long, the new world champion in men’s section, and the 2013 world champion Ratchanok Intanon in women’s event should only serve a reminder of how tough the competition can be at the Asian Games.
Can the Indians produce the much-awaited magic at the Asian Games is the big question.
