Doubles trouble for India No 3 pair

Francis Alwin and Shanker Gopal P of Air India, being the third-ranked national pair, had their 8216;India8217; emblazoned t-shirts on, going into their final Central Zone Badminton Championship match against unseeded Arup Baidya and Sachin Ratti of the Railways.

Air India8217;s Francis Alwin and Shankar Gopal lose to Arup Baidya and Sachin Ratti, handing Railways Central Zone title

Francis Alwin and Shanker Gopal P of Air India, being the third-ranked national pair, had their 8216;India8217; emblazoned t-shirts on, going into their final Central Zone Badminton Championship match against unseeded Arup Baidya and Sachin Ratti of the Railways. The teams took to court right after Hemant Duggal pulled off a thrilling 10-21, 21-19, 21-14 victory over Utsav Mishra to bring Railways back in contention for the title they have lost twice in two years to the airmen, and they had nothing to lose but the championship.

Arup and Sachin took inspiration from the contingent of Railway players and officials who kept cheering for every point, and just when they looked like they were tiring, the pair had come away with the biggest upset of the day 8212; thrashing Alwin and Gopal 21-13, 21-14.

The first game went according to plan, Sachin8217;s short service and counter smashes from Arup ensuring smooth progress. In the second game, however, Gopal upped the tempo, mixing up drops with smashes from the net. But they went on to squander a 12-10 lead with a series of unforced errors and after drawing level on points, Sachin and Arup were back to their first-game strategy.

8216;Embarrassing8217; defeat
While Alwin looked tearful, Gopal, being the senior, kpet a poker face while describing the defeat as an embarrassment. 8220;They were playing on their home turf, supported by a very noisy crowd. This added to the pressure of playing for the first time for Air India. But being number three in the country in doubles, losing to singles players can8217;t be excused. This is an embarrassment for us. But we have to carry on,8221; said Gopal.

On the other side of the net though, Arup and Sachin kept weighing their 12-year long experience of playing together. Coming from two distant Indian cities, Kolkata and Jalandhar, respectively, their first meeting was at a national camp in Ajmer in 1998. Sachin, currently ranked 18th in India and Arup, India no. 18 in singles, however, haven8217;t played too many tournaments together.

8220;We might be knowing each other and have played together for long, but we haven8217;t appeared in many tournaments as a pair. But the weight of our experience is good enough,8221; said 28-year old Sachin. Having gained a bit of weight and playing against the third-ranked Indian pair, he had some specific strategies in place. 8220;Being fitter than me, Arup was given the responsibility of covering the first court while I kept attacking from the third. It8217;s good that all our plans worked and we clinched the title after being 2-1 down,8221; added Sachin.