‘ Deception can make Sindhu lethal’

CANDID Former great feels while Sindhu and Saina have the physical prowess, most Indian girls are not good enough to reach the top-5 or top-10 in the world

across the country...

For the growth of the sport it is important to have training centres across the country. As a first step, you should have national centres in the five zones -- north, south, east, west and north-east.

The next stage is for each state to have its own academy and that is when the numbers will grow. That is how it is done in most countries, including China.

Among men, we have good bench strength but there is nobody to take the mantle from Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu?

Yes, that’s a cause for concern. The success of these two girls is mainly because of their physical prowess. Most Indian girls are technically very good but not good enough to reach the top-5 or top-10 in the world. Either we are not fit or not as fast as others. So there is a big gap, which is not the case with the boys.

Do you see an Indian winning the All England again?

Our top players have won everything, from medals at deception. She will then have somethin g distinct and different with this. The use of the wrist comes naturally to Indians. In cricket, the way we use the wrist, nobody else does. Our badminton players can do the same.

The game has become so physical now. Do you think the skill aspect has come down?

I feel deception and skill definitely have a role to play. Tai is a classic example. From the same position you don’t know what she will play. It’s something like a googly in cricket, but deceptive strokes should be used sparingly. Compared to my time the skill part is not so much there because of the emphasis on speed and power. So anybody who has speed and power and little bit of deception will have the edge. Some players who are doing well like Kento Momota have better skill.

The Tokyo Olympics is a year and a half away. How should one plan to peak at the right time?

Our players have taken part in two Olympics. They must plan in a way so that you are at your peak during the Olympics. If I were the coach I would work backwards. I would sit with the sports science people and make a plan, work backwards.

Before Olympics you don’t want to play a tournament, you want to be fresh. So four weeks before

Olympics, no tournaments. Before that how many tournaments you want? Again, work backwards and come up with a plan from April 29 till the end of qualifying period, April 26, 2020. Effort should be to reach the peak at that time.