Path easy for Saina

Having helped India climb a step in Asian hierarchy by qualifying for the Uber Cup finals,Saina Nehwal will look to carry her good form...

Having helped India climb a step in Asian hierarchy by qualifying for the Uber Cup finals,Saina Nehwal will look to carry her good form which saw her beat former world No 1 Zhou Mi recently into the European season when she heads to the All England championships. The March 9-14 tournament in Birmingham,the first in the 12-event Super Series calendar,sees virtually the entire badminton world turn up,and Nehwal,seeded 7th,has no obvious obstacle to counter in the early rounds. At that level,though,every step of the draw can be a minefield.

Nehwal plays world No 27 Judith Meulendijks in her opening round and has learnt there are no easy wins after reverses against players ranked lower than her last season. I played her two years ago. There are always a lot of rallies with her because she picks up everything and you need to be prepared for a lot of running in the first game. She also has a lot of variety in drop shots and smashes, Nehwal says of her opponent from The Netherlands. Its a good draw,but that doesnt mean it will be all easy, says the 20-year-old who might run into French Pi Hongyan in the quarters.

Better shape

Last years All England was a disappointment after a combination of a tough opener against Hongyan and a dodgy shoulder ended Nehwals campaign on the first day. The long,intensive training for the Uber Cup qualifiers and the good results there will help me at the All England too, says the world No 7. Ill give my 100 per cent and hope for the best result, she adds.

The task for Indias top mens shuttler,Chetan Anand,is much tougher as he is to meet top-ranked Malaysian Lee Chong Wei first up. Anand will hope to see some of his compatriots P Kashyap top seed in qualifiers,playing Malaysian Wei Feng Chong and Anup Sridhar meeting Frenchman Matthiue Lo Ying Ping move into the 32-man main draw. Aravind Bhat,suffering from a left ankle strain has pulled out from the qualifiers. Its a small strain that occurred during the final Thomas Cup qualifiers tie against Japan. Its not very painful now,but I didnt want to take a risk, Bhat says.

Trupti Murgunde,who did commendably at the Uber Cup prelims in Thailand and scalped top-15 player Petya Nedelcheva at Germany last week,meets Anu Nieminen in the first round of qualifying. Unseeded Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa are scheduled to meet Indonesian Sheny Puspa Irawati and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari in the first round of womens doubles,while Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas are pitted against Danish Mads Conrads-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding.

The mixed doubles pairing of Gutta and V Diju will consider themselves a tad unlucky,since the world No 9 combine missed out on being seeded and have been handed a tough draw,meeting seventh seeds Danes Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl in their first round.

Good draw for Indian teams

Mumbai: Indian shuttlers will sniff a chance to move up in the world pecking order after being handed encouraging draws for the May 9-16 Thomas and Uber Cup finals in Malaysia. While both the mens and womens teams are seeded an identical seventh,the former are clubbed with Indonesia and Australia in Group D,while the latter are in Group D along with Korea and South Africa. A revised format will see a two-stage,two-draw format,where the top two teams from each group will advance to the knock-out quarter-finals. A quarter-final spot,hence,will not be a tall ask from either.

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Its a good draw for the men. Indonesia will be tough,but beating Australia will make India eligible for the knock-out stage, national coach P Gopichand said. The coach sensed an opening in Uber Cup as well. We have a good chance against Korea as well after our decent showing in the qualifiers against them, he added. ENS