Jwala can be an asset in doubles with Shruti

Taste of success is always sweet and India had it for the third day in succession when they expectantly blanked out Sri Lanka in the final...

Taste of success is always sweet and India had it for the third day in succession when they expectantly blanked out Sri Lanka in the final tie of the qualifying round. India move to the next stage, the semi-finals or the main round of the Uber Cup, where they are placed in Group X along with the top seeds Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. The second team to qualify is Singapore who beat Australia and will be placed in the other Group Y, with South Korea, Thailand and Japan.

Having already qualified for the main draw, India fielded the young combination of Shruti Kurien and G Jwala in the second doubles, to give Jwala a taste of international competition. However, the Sri Lankan combination was too raw to test the Indians or to put them under any pressure.

Jwala has a natural advantage of being a left-hander and with her height of 5 feet, 11 inches, she can be an asset in doubles with Shruti. But she needs to improve upon her speed and approach.

In the first match of the main draw, India face thetop seeds Indonesia on Wednesday. Even in the absence of their top player Cindana, Indonesia appear to have a fair amount of depth in their team with their first two singles players ranked No 16 and No 25 in the world, and doubles at No 7 and No 11. We could possibly hope for a fight in atleast one or two singles, or possibly even an upset!

The men8217;s team, who have been placed in the main draw of the Thomas Cup, take on Japan later in the day in their first match. This match could be crucial in deciding the fortunes of the teams moving to the knockout stage, for which two teams will qualify out of four. The other two being the formidable South Korea and the qualifiers Singapore.

Will our players, Gopi Chand, Nikhil Kanetkar and Abhinn Shyam Gupta the likely singles trio who have had extensive international exposure over the last couple of years, rise to the occasion? Our dependence, traditionally, has been more on singles. But in matches like this, it is the team effort which is vital.

BAI hadarranged a special camp only for doubles about 3-4 months back under the guidance of former internationals Uday Pawar and Leroy D8217;Sa to sharpen the skills of our existing doubles combinations and try and form some new pairings.

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This will be an acid test for our doubles pairs the established combination of Vincent Lobo and Jaseel Ismail, and the new pair of Marcos Bristow and Vijaydeep Singh. The third doubles pair of Ajit Wijetilak and George Jose was also formed during the camp, but may not be fielded due to inexperience. Gopi Chand may also be considered as a doubles prospect for the tie.

The top two Japanese players Masuda Keita and Yamada are ranked No 27 and No 37 respectively, in the world. Their No 1 player has some good international wins to his credit. When only best teams are left in the draw, each tie has to be tough and there are no easy options. Then, India will have to fight their way up through every single match.

Dinesh Khanna is a former Asian champion