In the illustrious historical past of the All England Badminton Championships, solely two Indians have to this point claimed the highest honours, with Pullela Gopichand’s males’s singles victory in 2001, 21 years after Prakash Padukone’s males’s singles title in 1980.
There have been 3 times that Indians have come near victory: Prakash Nath in 1947, Saina Nehwal in 2015 and Lakshya Sen final yr, all shedding finals.
As one other version of the All England Championships looms on the horizon, listed below are the highest speaking factors for the Indian contingent heading to Birmingham:
New coach and minefield of attracts for Sindhu
PV Sindhu’s partnership with Park Tae-sang of South Korea was notably fruitful, profitable a bronze medal on the Tokyo Olympics and a gold medal on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. However, final month, Sindhu and Park parted methods, the results of which didn’t materialize in the previous couple of months.
Sindhu and her camp have moved shortly to enlist the companies of Malaysian Hafiz Hashim, who himself has skilled success on the All England Championships.
He will want that method in his nook, particularly after drawing in 1 / 4 that additionally contains He Bingjiao and Tai Tzu Ying.
While Sindhu has polished her credentials as a high-level participant with a number of World Championship medals and two Olympic medals, All England glory has to this point eluded her.
Blues second recreation to focus on in 2023
Until he topped Viktor Axelsen’s mammoth determine within the closing final yr, Lakshya Sen was trying effectively on his solution to turning into the third Indian to win the title on the prestigious match.
This time round, Lakshya has began 2023 in uncharacteristically faltering type, not making it to the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open, India Open or Indonesia Masters in 2023.
What is value noting within the three exits he has made in these three occasions is how he claimed the primary recreation however failed within the second. For instance, in Malaysia, he received the primary recreation in his opening spherical encounter towards HS Prannoy and dropped the second recreation 21–12. He ultimately misplaced the match.
At the India Open, he misplaced within the second spherical to Rasmus Jemke, the place he received the primary recreation 21–16 and dropped the second recreation 15–21 to permit the Danish shuttler again into the competitors. Gemke ultimately took out the goal.
At the Indonesia Masters, he had one other second recreation bust when enjoying towards Jonathan Christie, the place he took the primary recreation 21–15, however was tied 10–21 within the second recreation earlier than shedding.
Of course, three outcomes shouldn’t be a big sufficient pattern dimension to point a development.
What is worrying is that the Indian was surprised by Christo Popov within the first spherical of the German Open final week.
His street to a different All England closing could be tough, as he was drawn by fifth seed Chou Tien Chen within the opening spherical. If he wins, he’ll face the winner of the competition between Denmark’s Anders Antonsen and Rasmus Gemke within the second spherical.
Satwik-Chirag hoisted the Indian doubles flag
Over the years, the formidable males’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been the spine of a few of India’s greatest victories on the world stage, together with the Thomas Cup title, which might not have been potential with out the lads’s pair. Raising their recreation
Last yr too, he received the India Open Super 500 apart from the French Open Super 750 title and a medal on the World Championships. His outcomes on the court docket additionally noticed him rise to a world rating of 5.
Coming into the 2023 All England, they’ve been drawn towards the Indonesian pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjay Sukamuljo. The Indians are but to beat the ‘minions’ in 11 encounters, and can hope that they’ll emerge victorious within the twelfth encounter of the ask.
Should they handle to emerge from that unscathed, they’re prone to discover second seeds Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik on their means into the quarters. Should they win, one other established pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan doubtlessly await them.
Srikkanth’s debut season struggles
After the 2022 BWF season will get over, Kidambi Srikanth traveled to Indonesia for just a few weeks to coach on the Prisma Sports Club in Jakarta in an effort to bridge the gaps in his recreation.
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After coming again, he advised reporters that he was now searching for a international coach – ideally Indonesian or Malaysian – to work with him as he needed to regain the shape that had made him the world’s prime coach at one stage. Driven to the shuttler of the order. , Srikkanth, at the moment ranked nineteenth on the planet, might be equally good in mesmerizing and equally dangerous by way of tempo.
So far in 2023, he has featured in three tournaments and is but to win a single recreation. He misplaced within the first spherical of Malaysia Open (to Kenta Nishimoto), India Open (to Viktor Axelsen) and Indonesia Masters (to Shesar Hiren Rustavito).
At the 2023 All England, he might face robust Japanese shuttler Kodai Naroka within the second spherical, earlier than doubtlessly assembly both Kenta Nishimoto or Li Zi Jia within the quarters.
Prannoy now in Top 10 seeking signature title
For a participant who has made a reputation for himself by troubling large names on tour, HS Prannoy doubles might doubtlessly be amongst among the greatest names within the draw. He is prone to face third seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting within the second spherical. Should he make it by to the following spherical, what awaits him might be fifth seed Chou Tien Chen, compatriot Lakshya Sen or Denmark’s quartet of Anders Antonsen and Rasmus Gemke.
A shuttler of his caliber and one who has a wide range of smashes, Prannoy shall be actually determined to win the massive occasion.
Treesa-Gayathri pair is gearing up for a giant yr
For a few years success in badminton tournaments was anticipated solely from singles gamers from India. Then got here the gunslinging duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who’ve proven that they’re able to large titles as effectively.
And earlier than anybody might dismiss their emergence as a glimmer within the pan, India is beginning to get a really feel for doubles pairing in ladies’s doubles as effectively, due to Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly. Over the previous couple of months, the duo has put collectively plenty of outcomes which can be indicative of their potential.
She received a bronze on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham final yr, and the Indian badminton crew received a bronze on the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai final month. In Dubai, they’d a win over the Malaysian world No. 5 pair of Thinah Muralitharan and Pearly Tan. They additionally recorded wins within the quarters (over Hong Kong’s Ng Tse Yau-Ng Wing Yung) and the semi-finals (over Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning).
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
