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Journalism of Courage
With total dependence on our singles in the Thomas Cup tie against Korea, we had virtually lost the tie, when Nikhil Kanetkar went down to Lee Hyun in his singles, conceding a lead of 2-1. Nikhil’s loss neutralised the good work of Pullela Gopi Chand, when he gave India the initial lead in a titanic battle lasting over 90 minutes against Shon Seung-Mo ranked 38 in the world.
It’s always tough to play the opening match for your country, because that brings in that extra pressure. I must say that Gopi has matured into a player who is able to handle this pressure admirably. He demonstrated that yesterday and again on Thursday.
In a match played at a furious pace, it was as much the test of skill as of staying power backed up by resolute will power to hang on. Gopi had greater variety, was more consistent and won the first game, led 13-10 in the second. The match had gone on nearly for an hour and it appears that Gopi unintentionally relaxed at that stage.
The Korean, a great fighter, hit back and took the match to the decider. It goes to Gopi’s credit that he was able to shake off the thought of having let the opportunity of winning the match in two games slip away and get into the third with a determined frame of mind.
After a few long fierce rallies and with the score tied at eight-all, both players looked tired. It was one of those situations which test your grit, determination and mental toughness. Each one waiting for the other to crack up. Gopi proved equal to the task and after another energy-sapping rally at 11-8, hung on to win the opening match for his country.
Nikhil Kanetkar, who had played brilliantly on Wednesday against Japan, was a pale shadow of himself this evening. It seemed that the Koreans had studied Nikhil’s game well. His opponent Lee Hyun served low and never allowed Nikhil to attack, a game that he relishes. Nikhil, in his anxiety to go on the attack, kept on making unforced errors, trying to dribble the shuttle on the net. He was inexplicably slow and hardly did anything right.
If one thing doesn’t work, one must try something different. He should have lifted the shuttle and gone for tosses to get into the game.
Abhinn Shyam Gupta again proved his dependability when he beat Korean opponent in three games lasting nearly 100 minutes. I am sure his opponent must be feeling put in a torture chamber.
The vulnerability of our doubles was once again in evidence, although we were up against the best in business.
