SMASH HITS

Finally, unmindful of how hard the Westerners fight and howsoever spirited the Indian challenge, it will be the Far East brigade — the domineering Chinese, drawing the best out of the rest: Indonesians, Malaysians, Japanese and the Koreans — who will light up the Indian Open.

It’s been a while since the best of the shuttle world’s east and west criss-crossed in India. Though you’d be scratching your head to recall the last time, if ever, when the field spanned a women’s world no 1 (Xie Xingfang), no 2 (Zhang Ning) and no 3 (Lu Lan), newly-crowned All-England men’s champ (Chen Jin), the men’s world no 3 (Bao Chunlai), and if promo-posters are to go by, the Indonesian maverick-champion and crowd-puller Taufik Hidayat.

Leaving imprints

The then-biggies were known to drop in to Bombay for invitational tournaments in the 50s, 60s and 70s, but seldom has the Indian badminton audience had it so good, all at one time. Hunt around for the footprints left behind by former visiting legends, and it is evident that they didn’t leave Indian shores simply clutching their trophies. Many seem to have left imprints on budding Indian players — who went on to do dreamy things with their own destinies, playing with the best, raising their own pedestals.

Malaysian Wong Peng Soon — the first Asian to win the All-England in 1950, his first of four, had arrived at Bombay’s CCI courts and left more than a hint of his personal charm on India’s nascent shuttle-scene. Nandu Natekar, the first Indian to win a title abroad, had come up against the then world no 1 at an invitational in 1951, and come away mesmerised. “His back-hand was so impressive, I consciously tried to emulate it, practicing the swing for countless hours,” Natekar recalls.

Two decades later in 1970 — and exactly ten years before he won the All-England, Prakash Padukone, playing as a 15-year-old, had lost 15-3, 15-5 to Rudy Hartono Kurniawan, the Indonesian stopping to play in India after picking his maiden world championship crown. “Just watching him play had a great impact — that’s when we realised how much we had to work harder, how to work on fitness, and just what it takes to play at that level,” Padukone remembers. Padukone’s style a year later in 1971 was markedly more aggressive, his national junior title in the subsequent year proving to be the impetus he needed to take off to bigger battles.

Erland Kops — the first Westerner to win a major singles titles in the Far East, had often played in India during Natekar’s time. The then world no 1 Dane’s mercurial presence on court made him quite a popular man in the late 50s. CCI and Bombay Gymkhana courts, with their small capacities, would fill to the brim, as even the nationals invited foreign names — players from Pakistan, America, Denmark and Thailand.

The shift of the hub east-wards from Mumbai/Pune to Hyderabad, which hosts its second major international event (the first was the 2005 ABC championships, not on this scale) is thus consistent with the Andhra capital’s foresight in setting up the infrastructure — stadium, hotels, airport, et al. It wasn’t coincidental that the state’s shuttlers had started dominating the national championships in all age-sections — from seniors down to the smallest cadet-cubs.

But more than anything else, what the Indian Open would crave to earn for itself is a foundation stone to future tradition. “For any event to take root, it needs to become a part of the circuit and be held every year at the same time, preferably with increased prize money — something like the All-England or the Wimbledon. This tournament has a big future,” stresses Padukone, rueing that India never had a regular fixture until now, one-off tournaments not quite striking a chord.

The fight before Beijing

Coming as it does at the business end of the Olympic build-up, the Indian Open will be no pretender to serious-competition. “It’s an Olympic year, and there’s not much in it for rank rookies, though the new format offers a decent chance to underdogs. No one’s expected to get easy games here, since everyone’s after ranking points ahead of the Games,” opines former international doubles star Leroy D’Sa.

“Youngsters will pick important tricks on training, et cetera from just watching these big stars, but for the Indians who are middle-rungers — Anup Sridhar, Chetan Anand and P Kashyap — it will be about seizing the opportunity and giving it their all,” he says.

The Indian Open will also be perhaps the first time that China’s impetuous world-beaters are sighted — in such staggering numbers — in India. “Just the fact that they force the other competitors to raise their game, leading to fantastic contests, will make it a feast,” D’Sa says. India has rarely hosted a tournament attractive enough for the Chinese to stop here, and as defending champs then, China didn’t travel to Jaipur for the Thomas Cup, making this a first.

For the top Indians — Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal — they’d be content playing hosts, without any attempt at being nice at all. Padukone believes the event is perfectly timed for the Indians. “Both Anup and Saina — others too — are at such a stage that the home-advantage works best. They are modestly ranked in the field, so no one’s quite breathing down their necks hoping them to win the title. It’s ideal to exploit your home courts and local crowds right now. The higher you go up in the rankings, the pressure to maintain that performance at home turns into a disadvantage,” Padukone adds.

National coach P Gopichand is hopeful for the Indians — forming 1/5th of the draw. “It’s a big event coming to India after a long time, and the best opportunity for us to gauge where we stand,” he stresses. “The good performances will be highlighted like never before,” he adds.

Doubles delight

If the singles event boasts of the big names, the doubles landscape has entertainment written all over it. D’Sa, who is excited about watching the singles, says there’s equal fun in the doubles. “If you’ve seen the trend at all the big events among the top combinations — Malaysians and Chinese — there are no sure-shot favourites. There’ve been upsets galore, rankings going kaput, with the better fancied pairings losing at All-England and world championships. Unlike tennis, the field is far too open in badminton doubles, which makes it very interesting,” he adds. India’s crack pair of Sanave Thomas-Rupesh Kumar will add the local flavour.

With the elite trooping in, all flights will lead to Hyderabad’s swanky new airport. The city may have gotten off to a stuttering start owing to the past postponements, but hoping for a grand success of the Indian Open will not quite be dubbed a fool’s dream — come April 1.