Chief National badminton coach P. Gopi Chand says there are no clear favourites in the Dubai World Super Series Finals, but adds that he likes the chances of K. Srikanth and P.V. Sindhu. He shares his thoughts about the tournament and how his charges have prepared for it in an interview with The Hindu . Excerpts:
How do you view the event?
When I look at the year-ending Major, it is going to be very demanding as the cream of world badminton will be there. For sure, there are no clear favourties. There is very little to [separate them] in terms of strengths and weakness.
Is Srikanth fit after his injury?
Yes, Srikanth was out of action for two Super Series with an injury but is now fully fit and in a mood to give off his best. I hope he produces the kind of form which fetched him an incredible four Super Series titles this year. He has the confidence of winning four titles which is no joke given the way the standards have improved now.
How do you rate Sindhu’s chances?
Sindhu is always a dangerous proposition on her day in any event — a class act who, on her day, can make the best of opponents look ordinary. [She] won World Championship silver this year [having won two bronze earlier], [she has] won silver at the Rio Olympics, so she is a big-match player, always capable of producing the best under pressure.
They seem to have trained long and hard for Dubai.
Yes, there have been pretty long training sessions for both Srikanth and Sindhu ahead of the Dubai Super Series. We make sure that even if they miss the daily training programme, they are back on Sundays. (Gopi asked Srikanth and Sindhu to be at the Academy at 5 a.m. on Sunday for a two-hour practice session.) I am glad they are responding to the training programme.
Are they mentally ready for the pressure of the event? Indian players can’t slip under the radar these days.
Sure, they [need to] be aware that they are going to be watched and marked, and they have to really work hard to counter the changing strategies in these kinds of major events. [But] I don’t think they will be overawed by the fact that Dubai Super Series features the top eight or anything like that. They are pretty experienced and classy customers, and can handle any pressure now.
