Asian Games: Upbeat Indian squad trains in earnest

Yuki Bhambri is determined to make amends for his loss in the Davis Cup with a better display in the Asian Games

Yuki Bhambri is a man on a mission. He may have to pay urgent attention to the professional circuit after missing nearly six months due to a foot injury, but the 22-year-old Delhi player has opted to do national duty this month.

He may not have been at his best in the ‘live’ fifth rubber against the second-ranked Serbian team in Davis Cup, but Yuki knows that he can be as good as anyone here, on his day, even though he may only be the eighth best  by virtue of his world rank of 154.

“There are a lot of good guys here. It is easily the best Asian event. But, anything is possible. I have played a few, and have won and lost to them,” said Yuki, after a practice session supervised by coach Zeeshan Ali, as captain Anand Amritraj was yet to join the team owing to personal commitments.

With Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Mikhail Kukushkin ranked 63 and 72 in the world respectively, the challenge for India would be much tougher in the quarterfinals, than it was against Serbia recently in Bangalore! Of course, Somdev Devvarman, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna, who had won two rubbers for India will not be here to assist the team.

The women’s No. 1 Ankita Raina enjoyed the slow pace and good bounce of the hard courts here and said she was ready to do her best in whichever event she gets fielded.

Like the men, the Indian women would also play Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals, albeit in a smaller draw of 16.

“If we can take the match to the doubles, it will be great,” said women’s coach Hemant Bendrey, even as he hoped that his second singles player, either Prarthana Thombare or Rishika Sunkara, would give the required start for the team, against Yuliya Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Win or lose, if the Indian women, without the services of Sania Mirza, play their best game they would have taken a step forward.

The Indian women have a match on Saturday against Oman, and the men have an additional day to train ahead of their second round against Nepal after a bye in the first. It remains to be seen as to how well the players ready themselves for the tough contest against Kazakhstan, after not facing any competition till then. The match of the day is expected to be the one in the women’s section featuring Uzbekistan against fourth-seeded Thailand.