Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 20: "Go, Gopi, go Abhinn.” The shout would rent the air every time Pullela Gopi Chand and Abhinn Shyam Gupta scored a point. In the din that followed, with a sizeable crowd rooting India to the hilt, the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium reverberated.
But suddenly, the atmosphere would change into one of deafening silence. For close to five hours, the Indian players and the crowd experienced a varied feeling but in the end, both held their nerves. When India downed Thailand 3-1 in a crucial play-off of the BPL-Asian qualifiers for the Thomas/Uber Cup badminton championships, it was time for celebration all over.
Gopi Chand and Vincent Lobo received a standing ovation as they were carried off the court by jubilant team-mates — having grabbed the last berth for the Kuala Lumpur finals in May.
It has been 12 years. As in 1988, it was a splendid team effort that pitchforked India to this position, and they beat Thailand then too. Gopi Chand provided the morale booster, first by winning hissingles and culminating with a victory partnering Lobo.
Gupta’s victory, after India lost the first doubles, proved to be as important as the first one by Gopi Chand. The power-packed game between No 1 Thai Boonsak Polsana and No 1 Indian Gopi Chand turned out to be a gripping one. Gopi Chand, world No 32, came from behind to prevail over the world No 48 Thai 6-15, 15-7, 15-7 in 75 minutes. Down 1-5 in the first game, the Indian just managed to take another point off his Thai opponent.
But egged on by the crowd, Gopi seemed pumped up and in the second, he levelled at 6-6 and from there on, pushed Polsana to the base line, forcing him into a lot of errors. With his accuracy slacking, Gopi finished the game at 15-7 to breathe easy.
In the third, Polsana went ahead 6-2. But the Indian fought back well to level scores. Under pressure, Polsana committed several errors at the net to lose.
Knowing Gupta’s ability to sustain long points, Thai Anupap Thiraratsakakul quickly went into lead 6-0. But Gupta cameback into his own and his high tosses often caught the Thai napping. Once the Indian, ranked at 85, restored parity, it was him all the way in the first game, which he won 15-7.
In the second game, Gupta took a slender lead only to lose the initiative. Applying some delaying tactics, the Thai frustrated the Indian and 10-9, the Indian allowed Anupap to recover and win 15-12.
Gupta did not give his rival any liberty in the decider when he led 9-0. The Thai, trailing 3-10, picked two points first and at 5-14, saved a couple of match points before closing in at 11-14. On his third match point, the Thai blundered, putting the shuttle at the net to allow Gupta complete the task.
After the Indians duo took the first game, it was left to Gopi Chand to control the game with Lobo. He did precisely that when the situation warranted and slowed down the progress of the Thai pair of Kitipon Kitikul and Khunakorn Sudhisodhi, who were speeding away in the second. Lobo’s defence in the second posed problems for GopiChand as the former often found the net in way.
So much so, the Indian pair just about managed two points. In the decider, the Indians played to a plan and led 9-4. But the Thai pair did well to close in on a 13-12.
At this stage, Gopi Chand killed Kitipon’s service and his partner, Sudhisodhi, serving second, faulted. At match point, Lobo served close to the net but Kitipon return failed to cross over.
Results: Thomas Cup: India bt Thailand 3-1 (P Gopi Chand bt Boonsak Polsana 6-15, 15-7, 15-7, Jaseel P Ismail/Markose Bristow lost to P Teerawiwata/T Panvisvas 5-15, 7-15, Abhinn Shyam Gupta bt A Thiraratsakakul 15-7, 12-15, 15-11, P Gopi Chand/Vincent Lobo bt K Kitikul/K Sudhisodhi 15-11, 2-15, 15-12).
