GUTSGUTSA Window into World Badminton

Vol. 1. No. 10 September-October 2008For Private Circulation Only

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Bird's eye-view

>2 Sept-Oct '08GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

BQCheck your Badminton Quotient

Name the tournament that former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat won recently.

SMS your answers and name to 9902599822

Answer to last edition's BQ: Yang Yang

What a season it has been for India since the Olympics! Saina Nehwal surged to a win at the Chinese taipei GP Gold in mid-September, riding high on a rich vein of form after her narrow miss at Beijing. In the fortnight after her title, she would even beat the reigning world champion, Zhu Lin, at the China Masters. Not since Gopichand’s heady days in 2000-2001 has an Indian troubled the top Chinese thus. If not for Zhou Mi, who has edged her out three times this year, Saina would probably have added to her taipei title.Chetan anand has cracked the top-20 with a consistent run of form in Europe, the highlight being a sensational upset of world no.5 Sony Dwi Kuncoro at the Danish Super Series. having won the Spanish, Czech International and Bitburger Opens, apart from finals at the Dutch Open and Belgian International, Chetan now looks in the prime of his career, and that can only augur well for Indian badminton, since there is such an excellent line-up alongside him.Likewise, aditi Mutatkar’s strong performances shows that the Indians have depth in their women’s squad. the doubles teams too have had success in Europe, with Jwala Gutta winning two titles at the Bulgarian Open GP… hopefully, all of this should add up to some great results at forthcoming team and individual events. Chetan, Jwala and Shruti Kurien have attended these tournaments at their own expense, and have even taken along their coach Mohd arif, whose advise was invaluable in plotting their strategy. Now that Chetan is in the top-20, he should hopefully be able to get sponsors.We are introducing a new open page called ‘India Forward’ from the next issue for readers to participate in debates around badminton. Do write in with your ideas and suggestions.

badmintonmania.wordpress.com

SaINa is an inspiration. Before I talk about my experiences I want to acknowledge her efforts. She raised the bar for all of us, and I think we should all be thankful. her performances right from the Philippines Open till the Olympics have inspired me and helped me believe more in myself. this is how I interpreted her success: I told myself you can either show some courage and raise your level or hang up your boots and applaud her success. thank God I chose the harder road, and stood up for myself. Of course it goes without saying that I am looking forward to playing her. We have played some good matches and would love to maintain our rivalry.

So now coming back to my first Grand Prix final. I was in Paris training with Julia Mann before I played the Bitburger Open. In Europe they don’t train as much as we do, so it was very important to push my-self every day. I was so conscious that I train hard, sometimes I overdid it. But I guess it only helped me all the more. It taught me a lot of things. Julia was a great support too. I used to ask her about her experiences and we found out that we both are same in our training methods and preparation, we really hit it off. I became very independent with my training, the stint forced me to think more about my game.

When I saw my draw I told myself I

want to play Julianne Schenk (world no14) who I was going to meet in the semis. Before the semis I had one tough match against Rachel van Cutsen from the Netherlands, she is very experienced and has some good wins. that match was a turning point. I pulled it through in the third at 18. I was so relieved. I knew the quarterfinal was relatively easy, that meant I could play Schenk. When I went for the match I told myself whatever happens I will stick to my strategy till the end, and I won’t get excited. I followed it till the end and I had got my first top 20 victory. It would be wrong to say I didn’t believe it, as I was very aware of it. I had worked so hard, I deserved it.

the next day was the final. I had told myself I would give it my best shot. I did that, but I faltered in the end after having three match points at 20-17. I should not have lost in the third. I didn’t sleep for the next two nights thinking about it, but in one way it was good because I was very motivat-ed for my next tournament, the Bulgarian Open. In Bulgaria I of course went with con-fidence. I started off well with my first two rounds. I should say this that even though the scores looked easy the matches were not. at this level you have to work for every point, as people there don’t care that you have played the previous final. If you don’t give your best you might lose to anyone.

With wins over no.14 Julianne Schenk and Rachel van Cutsen, this might just be Aditi MutAtkAR'S breakthrough season. Aditi takes us through her experiences at the Bitburger and Bulgarian Opens:

Thank you, Saina!

>3Sept-Oct '08 GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

My quarterfinal was against no.37 Maria Elfira Christina, an Indonesian. I knew she was good, she had won the Spanish Open. I was ready. I told myself: ‘You have to kill yourself, otherwise you don’t stand a chance’. Yes, I was killed, it was a 1hr 10min match. I worked so hard, and I thought she got tired in the end. I was elated; not being tired before an Indonesian was a great feeling. the best I have ever felt.

after the match I was pretty dead and I knew the next match was again a tough one and I really wanted to pull it through, I think I recovered really well the next day, played Petya Nedelcheva (no. 17). tom (John) Sir has told me a few things and I absolutely followed it till I won the first game and was 19-19 in the second. She won the second at 19.

I knew the third would be really difficult, because my right leg felt like a stone. I admit I was tired. also there were bad decisions, and her coach was pretty annoying too. he was abusing me talking between rallies, scaring the linesmen and so on. there was a mad crowd, almost booing me. I learned a lesson: I got pretty distracted by all this, but you can’t afford to. You should be able to win in the worst conditions. It was a lesson I will never forget.

these tournaments were the breakthrough I really needed. I have no doubts about myself anymore. I am not going to be surprised at my results anymore. I have always worked hard, but unless you get your results all the hard work just doesn’t help. I know how hard I have to work now and I am all ready for it. I have taken a huge step from nowhere to finally somewhere. I need to be really focussed for my road ahead. I’m sure I can reach my goals, nothing is impossible.

I want to also thank Vimal Sir. When I was leaving for Paris he didn’t say anything but this: “I want results, not excuses.” those words kept ringing in my ears all the time. thanks, sir!

By Aravind Bhat

thIS IS about my second favourite country after India... Deutschland... aka Germany.as many might not be aware, the German language has its roots in Sanskrit and that makes it even more special for me. When I came across this information in 2002 the first thing I did was join a German language class. I tried my best to learn but due to

time constraints I could not do it fully. I can speak in bits and pieces and I feel I have the foundation to master it. I will do it in the coming years.Germany is a country which has very little Indian population. I am very proud to say I am associated with this country because I like the way things function here. I like the language because it sounds so power-ful when you speak. I like the way people think here and more importantly the preci-sion with which they function.We have heard a lot on German preci-sion. I want to give a brief example which I encountered.this was when I arrived here in Saarbruck-en. the previous day when I left India I had told my team mate that I would arrive in Frankfurt airport around 8am, then take a train which leaves at 9.24am and reaches Saarbrucken main station at 11.54am. I forgot that I had to change a train at some station at around 10 am. the connecting

train from that particular station was after four minutes! I did all this and was in Saarbrucken station around 11.56. I waited until 12 and then I realised I should have sent him and SMS that I would reach on time after catch-ing the connecting train. then I thought I should instead call him, so I went to a booth nearby and rang. thomas answered.I said “thomas, aravind here, will you be late?”“I’m there in two seconds.”hung up the phone and saw thomas there.Got into the car, looked at my watch...12.03.three minutes late. But wait, the story does not end here.the watch on thomas’s dashboard said 12.01! then I remembered I always keep my watch about 2 to 3 minutes fast! Ger-man precision for you.

aravindbadminton.blogspot.com

Clockwork precision

>4 July '08GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

thE National Badminton Museum at Milton Keynes houses the finest collection of badminton memorabilia in the world, and gives us much cause for introspection. apart from a few players who have maintained newspaper clippings of their matches, there is next to nothing that helps us delve into Indian badminton history. Monoj Guha, the former player and national coach, who had perhaps the most extensive collection of magazines, newspapers and souvenirs, lost most of it when his house was flooded by torrential rains last year. the BaI needs to immediately establish a museum-cum-library that can house not just archival material, but also videos of contemporary players, so that it can aid the national programme. as part of the new series in GUtS called ‘Open Page’, we invite readers to send in their opinions on how best to preserve archival material, and to volunteer in gathering such material.

One model that we may follow is the National Badminton Centre at Milton Keynes, some two hours from London.

I had the honour of being invited to the museum earlier this year. the museum occupies a single room in the National Badminton Centre, which has housed the offices of Badminton England since april 1986. the museum itself is more recent, having been officially opened in September 2003, most of the exhibits coming from the collection of a remarkable man named herbert Scheele.

Scheele was an institution. he wrote extensively on the game and its history, was chief referee at major international tournaments, and played a significant role in building both the International Badminton Federation and Badminton association of England (now Badminton England). For years, both associations ran from the hall of his home. “Scheele was the unifying factor between the two bodies,” says Bill andrew, Chairman of the museum. “all of this stuff was at his house. after his death, it came up here, and was put in a store. We found a librarian named Margaret Cook to index all of it. She was joined by Jill Brill in 1997.”

today, the museum has grown beyond Scheele's collection. Cabinets with old 'battledores' (the ancestors of racquets), shuttlecocks, and medallions sit on the walls leading up to its office. Framed

MILtON KEYNES: as part of the 51 sites taking part in the Milton Keynes heritage Week, an event covering four days, the National Badminton Museum held their own Open Day on September 13th at the National Badminton Centre. In addition to the normal exhibits which tell the badminton story over the last two centuries, other items which normally do not get seen due to lack of space were on display in the all England room. among them were four different Commonwealth Games blazers, World War II shuttles made from chicken and duck feathers, and numerous old racquets showing the development from all-wood to metal to carbon fibre. the latter were of particular interest to the younger visitors, many of whom were playing in an U-13 tournament in the main hall. they were allowed to hold the racquets and the look on their faces as they experienced the weight of the all-wooden ones was one of amazement. Four videos were continually running throughout the day showing behind-the-scenes at the all England, early play at Badminton house and recordings of classic matches from the past. Bill AndrewChairman, National Badminton Museum

Time capsuleSept-Oct '08GUTS - A Window into World Badminton>4

By dev S Sukumar

A celebration of history

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Sept-Oct '08 GUTS - A Window into World Badminton >5paintings on the oldest forms of the game in China, Japan and France, photographs of British officers playing in the halycon days of the Raj; the earliest thomas Cup and all England matches — there is no period that has escaped its attention. Of particular Indian interest is a photograph of Prakash Padukone playing Morten Frost at the first prize money tournament, the London Masters in 1979, at the august Royal albert hall.

Indeed, the Indian angle has so fascinated Jill Brill that she plans to have a more extensive section, especially on its early days in Pune and the Punjab. a picture from the late 19th century from North-Eastern India is one of their prized exhibits.

But perhaps the most charming section is the restaurant, which is a remnant of the old barn that stood before the National Badminton Centre came up. One wall has several posters, including one dated 30 March 1947 — a match between 'British Zone Germany and all England Badminton association'.

among the initiatives Bill andrew and Jill Brill have taken is to have an 'open day' when the public is invited. Otherwise, through the year, a 'guided tour' is by appointment only, as both Jill Brill and Bill andrew are serving honorary posts.

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LEFT: The cafe at the museum is the only part of the old barn that still stands. One wall has a display of vintage post-ers, including that of a 1947 match between prisoners of war at a German camp

ABOVE: Bill and Brenda Andrew and Jill Brill, curator of the museum, pose with a collection of battledores

Cover photos courtesy: Badmintonphoto.comCover design:Vinayak Varmavinvarma@gmail.com

One of the museum's prized exhibits: A group of British settlers play badminton in a garden in Shillion, January 1887. Picture courtesy: National Badminton Museum

The start of a new era?The start of a new era?

thE Bitburger Open at Saarbrucken in early October turned out to be an Indian show as they won two gold and two silver medals, and more importantly, signaled an Indian resurgence at the world level. after a less-than-impressive 2007, 2008 promises to be a significant year in Indian badminton. Chetan anand's recent win over Sony Dwi Kuncoro at the Danish Super Series (Oct 23) is a precious moment in Indian sport. Chetan fell to Kenneth Jonassen in the next round, but his win will have infused confidence into his teammates that the best players in the world are beatable.

Chetan anand outlasted compatriot aravind Bhat in the final at Bitburger, making it two titles for the family as wife Jwala Gutta had taken the mixed doubles gold with Diju V. Jwala, in fact, has been in the thick of things, with two gold medals at the Bulgarian GP just the week after Bitburger. Jwala/ Shruti (women's doubles) and Jwala/ Diju made the Bulgarian a memorable event for India.

the Bitburger title meant that Chetan has won three titles this season, and reached the final of three others. Chetan has cracked the top-20 for the first time, and looks set to get into the top-15 as well. aditi Mutatkar came

desperately close to making it three golds for India, leading Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia 20-17 in the women’s final before capitulating at 23-21. Still, the silver has been Mutatkar’s biggest accomplishment thus far – given that she upset Rachel van Cutsen and Julianne Schenk of Germany -- who became her first top-15 victim.

Within the fortnight, at the Dutch Open, the Indians again gave their fans plenty to cheer. Chetan again reached the final, but fell to andre tedjono; the doubles team of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave thomas also won silver, while aditi Mutatkar, P Kashyap and Jwala/ Shruti Kurien made the semifinals. Kashyap had two good wins at the Dutch, over seventh seed Yu hsin hsieh (no.32, taipei) and Dicky Palyama (no.39, Ned).

anand Pawar and ajay Jayaram too have had some promising results. While Pawar fell to Chetan in the semifinals of the Belgian International, Jayaram won the Waikato International in early September, followed by a silver medal at the North Shore City International in auckland.

Bangalore’s Prakash Jolly was the runner-up at Waikato, after beating four New Zealanders including the second seed Joe Wu in the semis.

By Mark Phelan/Badzine

thE men’s singles match between compatriots Chetan anand and aravind Bhat proved to be a thriller as both players served up a feast of men’s singles badminton for the German fans. the opening set was a closely contested affair as neither player could find a chink in his opponent's armour. Eventually it was Bhat who prevailed and took the set 25-23. the second set was to follow the same pattern with both players jostling for supremacy. at 14-14 both matched each other point for point and with the game finely balanced at 22-22 it was anand who managed to secure the two points needed to take the match into a deciding set.

the final set saw them trade points yet again and at 11-11 it was anyone’s guess as to which way the match would go. at this point it was Bhat who seized the initiative and stormed out to a 19-14 lead and looked to be heading to the title. anand then did the almost impossible and won six consecutive points to take a 20-19 lead. at 21-21 it was going to come down to who wanted the title most and it was anand who defied the odds to take the set 23-21 and along with it the title of Bitburger Open men’s champion.

In the women’s singles event there was joy for Indonesia as Maria Febe Kusumastuti fended off the challenge of India’s aditi Mutatkar in three sets. Mutatkar took a tense opening set 24-22 but the Indonesian came fighting back to take the second set 21-8. the third set was

Sept-Oct '08GUTS - A Window into World Badminton>6

Photo courtesy: Badmintonphoto.com

Ready for the top ten

to prove to be a titanic battle to the end and it was the Indonesian who displayed the nerve needed as she clawed her way back from 20-17 deficit to take the third set and the match 23-21.

In the mixed doubles, there was a second title for India as Gutta and Diju Valiyaveetil overcame their higher-ranked Danish opponents Neilsen and Pedersen in a tough three-set encounter. the Danes cruised to a first set win 21-18 but the Indian pair showed immense character to battle back and take the second and third sets 21-17 and 22-20 to claim the match and the title.

Jwala sizzles at BulgariaIndia’s Jwala Gutta had reason to celebrate in Sofia as she made history with her partner Shruti Kurien by becoming the first Indian women’s pair to win a Grand Prix badminton tournament. Gutta also secured the mixed doubles title with partner Diju which was the second consecutive title for the pair after winning the Bitburger Open in Germany a week earlier.

Gutta and her mixed partner Diju had to come back from a set down to eventually defeat fifth seeds Fran Kurniawen and Shendy Puspa Irawati 15-21, 21-18, 21-19 in an exciting 45-minute encounter.

Later the same day Gutta, this time with her partner Shruti, inflicted double defeat on Irawati by lifting the women’s doubles gold in the shortest match of finals day 21-11, 21-19.

Speaking to a Bulgarian newspaper after her achievement Gutta said: “I am really excited. I never thought I would ever win a double. I was nervous before the final, was quite restless last night. I could not believe that I was in two finals of a Grand Prix event. Reaching the finals itself was a very big achievement but I wanted to win them both, very badly. I am so glad I did.

“I got about one-and-a-half hours of rest between the two finals. I was tired alright but pushed myself to get what I wanted.”

a StUNNING run since the Beijing Olympics in august has seen Saina Nehwal notch up her career-high ranking of 11. She is sure of getting into the top-10 by the end of the year, which will make her the first Indian woman ever to get into that elite league.

Saina’s victims included World Champion Zhu Lin on her home turf at the China Masters in late September; the hyderabadi made the semifinals before falling to nemesis Zhou Mi. a few days before that she had taken her biggest prize since the Philippines Open in 2006 – the Chinese taipei GP Gold. It has taken over two years, but she has kept the faith and remained in the hunt, and now bigger game is in her sights.

Now, in the post-Olympics era, after the impending retirement of the old guard, Saina looks set to challenge for the most prestigious prizes on offer. Of particular interest will be the all England in March.

“Beating Zhu Lin in China was an excellent result, beating her in her hometown was unbelievable because the way the spectators were supporting her, but still I was cool and I thought that I could do it,” Saina told the press on her return to India. “I was so focused that I had only one thought in my mind: that I can win and I should beat the world champion and I am really happy about it. I rate it (Chinese taipei GP Gold) as the best so far in my career. Winning it was amazing. the Philippines Open has its own place because that was my first international title and I had beaten several top ranked players to win the tournament. But the taipei Open was a GP Gold event. Moreover the win established me as an accomplished player.

asked if she was playing her best, she said: “Yes, I think so. I have defeated several top players. and in the matches I lost, the margin was very close. I believe I have the game to beat any player in the world.”

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Sept-Oct '08 GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Editor: Dev S. Sukumar. Printed & Published by Thomas J. Kunnath. P4, KSSIDC Industrial Area, Mahadevapura, Bangalore - 560 048. Printed at National Printing Press, Koramangala, Bangalore-560 095. Email: thomas@kunnath.in

>8

New Partner for NathanLONDON: Garforth badminton star Jenny Wallwork is to team up with Nathan Robertson, badminton silver medallist at the athens Olympics, following Gail Emms' retirement. the 21-year-old plays for Yorkshire and has nine England caps. her mother played for England twice in the 1980s while her father is a coach and recently won the men's singles and mixed doubles titles at the European Senior Championships. Robertson and Emms won Olympic silver in 2004 before collecting Commonwealth and World gold medals in 2006. Emms retired after the pair lost in the quarter finals at the Beijing Games in august.-Garforth Today

2012 project yet to lift offKUaLa LUMPUR: the Badminton association of Malaysia (BaM) has been working hard to finalise the 2012 London Olympics project squad before the November deadline so much so it has left the new back-up squad unattended. there is much uncertainty among the back-up coaches and players and so far only Wong tat Meng has started coach-ing the men’s singles squad although BaM has not yet announced the official appointment. the confusion comes about because Rashid Sidek, who is the back-up chief coach, will be promoted as the singles chief coach of the 2012 project squad while the fate of tey Siu Bock has yet to be decided. however, there doesn’t seem to be any problems with the doubles as chief coach Rexy Mainaky has created a training programme where both senior and back-up pairs train together. Rexy now has Ros-man, Pang Cheh Chang, Chang KimWai and Jeremy Gan as his assist-ants and one of them could be appointed to take charge of the back-up pairs. Several national juniors from the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) will also be recruited after the World Junior Championships in Pune on Oct 24-Nov 2. –KM Boopathy/ New Straits Times

Krishna Khaitan in HyderabadChENNaI: the prestigious Krishna Khaitan all-India junior badminton tournament, the country’s biggest junior event and a regular feature of the city’s badminton calendar, will this time be held in hyderabad at the Gopi Chand academy courts.the Organising Secretary, Sanjiv Sachdeva, said this shift had become necessary as the Nehru Indoor Stadium was unavailable because of ongoing renovation work. the event, which was initially postponed to October, will now be held from November 25 to 29. –The Hindu

China take world Junior Title

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around the world

PUNE: China beat Korea (3-1)for the World Junior title while Malaysia capitalised on India's Doubles weakness to capture the Bronze(3-2).India faltered in the team event semifinals of the World Junior Champi-onships to South Korea, losing the final match of a tense tie (2-3). hye Won and Kyung Eun Jung held their nerve in the final match to dispel the challenge of Sikki Reddy and thulasi in the girls’ doubles. the Koreans won 21-13, 21-9. Earlier, Guru Sai Dutt had helped India level a 1-2 deficit, when he beat Dong Keun Lee 14-21, 21-17, 21-18. India had fallen behind on the was always playing catch-up after aditya Prakash and Prajakta Sawant lost the opening rubber to Gi Jung Kim and hye Won Eom 23-21, 21-16. however, Saina Nehwal helped equal the score for the home team with a three-game win over Youn Joo Bae. India’s boys’ doubles pair Sai Praneeth and Pranav Chopra fell to Gi Jung and Young Woo Choi before Guru Sai Dutt helped India draw level again.

Badminton for the disabledBUCKINGhaMShIRE: Disabled youngsters aged eight to 13 have been invited to join a new disability badminton club which is starting this week at the Stoke Mandeville stadium on Wednes-days.Secretary Kirsty Jarvis said: “Basically the plan is to have a good time but we will also offer coaching. We can cater for pretty much any disability. We want to offer something to disabled youngsters and also get the family involved – parents and siblings can come along as well.”the new project is being backed by the Bucks Foundation to the tune of £1,000. For information on the project, mail Kirsty at kirst.jarvis@yahoo.co.uk.–Jill Menghetti, Buckinghamshire Advertiser

Jwala reads guts. do you?

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