Opinion No to the naysayers
K. Srikanth’s badminton triumph is Indian sport’s most heartening story of 2014.
Srikanth’s rise from world number 47 to number 4 is phenomenal in itself. That he is only 21 opens up a myriad of possibilities for the future.
For more than three decades, despite the two All England titles won by Indians, badminton coach Pullela Gopichand has repeatedly been told that Indians are at a natural disadvantage in the sport. These fatalistic pronouncements have amused and annoyed Gopichand in equal measure. On Christmas Day, Kidambi Srikanth reached number four in global rankings, the first player to reach the top five in men’s singles in 13 years. Now, Gopichand wants to say to detractors that Indians are naturally built to play and win at badminton.
In the last few years, Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu had made it to the top 10 in women’s singles, Jwala Gutta, V. Diju and Ashwini Ponappa had made it for women’s doubles. But Srikanth’s entry breaks a long dry spell in men’s singles. Beating China’s Lin Dan, the game’s all-time great, immediately lends you a certain snob value.
This was a year when Indian cricket was laden with Test disasters whenever the young team stepped out of the subcontinent, and shooter Jitu Rai was the only sportsman in the Olympics disciplines who managed to weld consistency with brilliance. While the immensely successful sporting leagues were all about the ensemble casts and the large audiences, Srikanth has burst on the scene at a time when most other sports in India, whether boxing, tennis, wrestling, athletics, hockey or football, could not throw up new star names.
Srikanth’s rise from world number 47 to number four is phenomenal in itself. That he is only 21 opens up a myriad of possibilities for the future. One of Gopichand’s biggest regrets will always be that he won the All England title when he was nearing 28. He believes that he would have achieved much more had that prestigious win arrived a few seasons earlier. Wracked by injuries, held back by the complete absence of a training programme in the country, Gopichand, who reached a career high of number four himself, wonders what other summits he could have reached had the big breakthrough happened in his early-20s.
When he started coaching, Gopichand needed to believe that his charges could do better than him. For a while, the male players floated in the top 30s. But Srikanth, like Nehwal a few years before him, displayed a fearlessness that was immediately evident to the coach. If anyone could break the barrier into the top five slots, which looked all the more intimidating at a time when there was a pervasive pessimism about Indian badminton, it was him. In Srikanth, he found a player who competed without inhibitions, who would deliver on the big stage and not need to reel out excuses, who was not afraid of facing the formidable Lin Dan and possibly being annihilated. Through the second half of 2014, Srikanth’s game has matured and become nuanced in every aspect. The way he sized up Tommy Sugiarto at the Super Series finals in Dubai showed a remarkably sharp brain, with strokes to match. A gifted young man, who wasn’t even intending to play badminton, had suddenly turned up and turned the tables around in China.
Looking ahead, Srikanth will have to bear the pressure of expectations. But his trajectory in the last few months gives Gopichand the hope that his charge can deal with whatever challenge is thrown his way in future. Having made it to the top five at 21 gives Srikanth breathing space. It gives him time to falter, make mistakes, learn from them and then bounce back. There is no doubt that Srikanth’s game will be analysed to bits by opponents. Lin Dan, Chen Long and Chen Jin — the troika of Chinese world champions — will trade notes on it. They will, no doubt, be keen to hit back for the rare reverse Lin Dan suffered at the China Open.
Srikanth will need to get stronger, think faster and train harder. Till six months ago, when Srikanth lost in the first round of half-a-dozen tournaments, nobody uttered a word. But from now on, his every move will be watched, his every loss analysed. But one of the most positive results of an Indian making it to the top five in men’s singles is the confidence that rubs off on other players, persuading them that they can make it too. For coach Gopichand, there’s respite from the naysayers of Indian badminton. And in his little “I told you so” moment lies Indian sport’s most heartening and surprising tale this year.
shivani.naik@expressindia.com
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