Hosts bank on home conditions
Indian badminton has been gaining prominence in recent years, posing a threat to the top- ranked nations. On Sunday, it will add to its growing stature when it plays host to the prestigious Li- Ning BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here for the first time.
After the BWF World Championships in Hyderabad in 2009, this is perhaps the biggest ever tournament the country will stage. India had thrice hosted the preliminaries of the event — also known as the world team championships — in 1988, 2000 and 2006, when the men’s side made it to the finals.
Altogether, India have reached the Thomas Cup Finals eight times while the women have qualified thrice for the Uber Cup.
In fact, during the 1950s, Indian men came close to reaching the Thomas Cup finals on a couple of occasions, thanks to the brilliant singles performances by greats like Nandu Natekar among others. But they faltered in the doubles.
This year, the hosts will field relatively young but strong teams, led by Parupalli Kashyap and Saina. Considering that India have always performed well in the event at home, the hosts will look to move a step further in the May 18 to 25 biennial event, where 16 teams, four more than previous editions, will fight it out for honours. Former international player and national selector U. Vimal Kumar said, “Home conditions should add to our advantage. Whenever India hosted the Thomas Cup ( preliminaries) earlier, we have done well.”
India’s chances of making the quarter- finals in the Uber Cup look good as they have drawn Thailand, Canada and Hong Kong in Group C. The Saina- led team should get past Canada and Hong Kong easily, but Thailand will be a tough challenge, with world champion Ratchanok Intanon in the ranks.
For the hosts, the presence of 11th ranked P. V. Lee Chong Wei ( Malaysia) Sindhu, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who claimed bronze medals at the the Asian Badminton Championships earlier this month, will add to the confidence of the team.
Saina,, who will play the first singles, said: “This time, the team is more confident. We were not that strong before.”
In a late development, Sayali Gokhale replaced the injured Arundhati Pantawane as the third singles player.
The going will not be easy for the men’s side. They have been clubbed with Malaysia, South Korea and Germany. While world no. 1 Lee Chong Wei will carry the hopes of former champions Malaysia, South Korea will bank on doubles pairs. India, who will be relying on Kidambi Srikanth and Kashyap in the singles, would hope to pull off the ties against Korea and Germany. With 21 titles overall, China are the most successful team in both competitions since making a winning debut in 1982 ( Thomas Cup) and 1984 ( Uber Cup). This time as well, they will be strong favourites.
In the Thomas Cup, China have the iconic Lin Dan — a five- time world champion and two- time Olympic gold medallist — besides second- ranked Chen Long, Du Pengyu and Tian Houwei. China, who have won nine times, will be gunning for a record sixth consecutive title here.
In the Uber Cup, 12- time champions China will field the world’s top three players — Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan.
In the other teams, Tommy Sugiarto ( Indonesia), Kenichi Tago ( Japan}, third- ranked Jan O. Jorgensen ( Denmark) in Thomas Cup, besides Korean 5th ranked Ji Hung Sung, world no. 7 Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei ( Uber Cup) will be the ones to watch out for.
The recently- introduced Instant Review System will also be used for the first time.