It has the World No.1 Lee Chong Wei in its ranks, but Chetan Anand feels India could overtake Malaysia and take the sixth spot in the world badminton team rankings, in about three years.
Interestingly, Chong Wei appears to be the only hurdle in India's way.
“We could go above Malaysia in about three years because Chong Wei will not be playing then,” said the former four-time National champion, during a chat with The Hindu at the Dream Hotel here.
Chetan was in Kochi as the chief guest for Li-Ning, the Chinese sports goods maker, which signed a deal with Kochi's Regional Sports Centre, to give a big boost to the sport here.
Think big
India, which has ten players in the world top 100 and two in the women's top 30, climbed to the seventh spot, its best-ever, in the Badminton World Federation team rankings a few days ago.
But our players should also start thinking big, feels the Arjuna Awardee.
“Our players are getting good exposure and playing well. We've always been playing well, but now, more than playing well, we should be winning tournaments,” said the 31-year-old World No. 58, who is recovering from an injury.
“When I was the World No. 12 a couple of years ago, I had won some tournaments, it should be like that. India should have players in the top 20 to get a better ranking; the faster we get there, the faster we go up the rankings.”
Chetan had been the best Indian in the world rankings after the former World No. 4 Gopi Chand, current National coach, but injuries have forced him down the ladder.
The Chennai-born Ajay Jayaram is currently the highest-ranked Indian in the men's world rankings, at No. 27, while his Petroleum Board-teammate P. Kashyap is just two rungs behind. There is likely to be an interesting fight between the two for the men's singles berth in this year's London Olympics.
But Chetan feels 20-year-old senior National champion Sourabh Verma, the World No. 48, is the country's most promising player.
“He is young and has a very good head on his shoulders, especially when it comes to handling tough matches. He's a little defensive, he's not very attacking. If he works a little more on his attack, he can do very well.”
A few years ago, Indian badminton had some very interesting characters. Players like Nikhil Kanetkar, with his light, cat-like movements, looked like a ballet-dancer on court. And then there was Abhinn Shyam Gupta, who could tire his opponent to death with his very defensive game. We don't seem to have such players these days.
“That's true, but I think we need to give our youngsters a little more time. Once they start beating some top players and gain confidence, it will be nice to follow them,” said Chetan.
