Good move to rest Gopi

FEBRUARY 19: India play their most crucial Thomas Cup tie against Thailand on Sunday which will decide the third team from this zone to qu...

FEBRUARY 19: India play their most crucial Thomas Cup tie against Thailand on Sunday which will decide the third team from this zone to qualify for the final rounds to be played at Kuala Lumpur in May. The other two teams, China and Korea, have already qualified by virtue of their victories against India and Thailand.

Realising fully that the Indian team virtually stood no chance in their semi-final against the Chinese, top singles players Gopi Chand and Abhinn Shyam Gupta were rested on Saturday for them to be fresh in the crucial tie against Thailand. This was a good tactical move as Gopi had played three tough singles on three successive days as well as a doubles against Japan. A day’s rest would certainly rejuvenate him and Abhinn and give their over-stressed muscles and joints to recover.

Thailand also employed similar strategy against their semi-final tie against Korea, resting their No 1 and No 2 singles players.

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The result: An easy 3-0 win for Korea. Once again, we will have to depend more on our singles. Thais, although nowhere near the class of the Koreans in doubles, still appear to have an edge in the paired event. We may once again have to depend on our second doubles if the tie goes to that stage.Thailand No 1 player Boonsak Polsana had upset Chen Hong, the top Chinese player, ranked world No 11, in Thailand vs China tie in the Super League stage, although that was the only match Thailand managed to win in that tie.Gopi will once again have to produce the form he displayed against Japan and Korea. Nikhil Kanetkar’s form against Korea, where he was totally off colour, is a matter of cocnern. Indian team management may have to seriously consider, whether they should field Sidharth Jain in singles instead of Nikhil.

In that case, Abhinn will play the second singles. He has certainly demonstrated great tenacity in the two matches that he has played. In any case, we cannot take chances. Our best bet is to go all out for the three singles and possibly strengthen our second doubles.

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