India Open: In their own backyard, men face a few home truths

Indian challenge in the men's singles ended at the India Open after three players went down in the quarter-finals without forcing a decider.

Sai Praneeth lost to Iskandar Zulkarnain in quarter-finals. (PTI Photo)

An attempted cross-court net shot did not make it to the other side. There was a celebratory roar from the victor. Qualifier Iskandar Zulkarnain had taken out a second Indian shuttler inside 24 hours. But even more significantly, it signalled the end of the home challenge at the India Open as far as men’s singles is concerned.

Three Indians were in action in separate quarterfinals on Friday, and all three went down without forcing a decider. While one may boast about the depth India has achieved in the men’s game, bowing out of the biggest international tournament at home before the weekend is a sobering reflection of the strength acquired in the discipline.

More so when the depleted field missed five of the top six in the current world rankings and seven of the top 10. “It is unfortunate that there will be no Indian in the semi-finals. I had entered the tournament aiming to win, but somehow all of us came up short,” Sameer Verma said after the 21-17, 21-14 defeat at the hands of Zulkarnain, a day after the Malaysian had taken out the biggest Indian hope in Kidambi Srikanth.

Earlier, Parupalli Kashyap went down to China’s Qiao Bin 21-16, 21-18 while B Sai Praneeth lost to third seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-15, 21-13. With HS Prannoy also going out after a token appearance in the first round, it doesn’t fill one with confidence going into the team format of the Asian Championships.

The Indian players have used every opportunity to complain about the tough international calendar for 2018, but the fact remains that the India Open is just the third tournament of the year in which they have already participated in the hectic Premier Badminton League. All the top Indian players are expected to play both the league and the India Open, but the fact that this year there was not much of a gap between the two seemed to have left them unprepared for the latter.

“Physically, I seemed to lack energy and couldn’t move freely. There were a lot of long rallies in my match. I should have prepared better for the match,” Kashyap said after his defeat. “There should have been more variation in my game.”

The 31-year-old has had more than his share of injuries with various parts of his body – calf, knee, abdominal muscle and both shoulders – letting him down at different times after his gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. “The injuries have made me mentally tired. I’m always trying to make comebacks. Now also, I have to go back and train as I’ve not decided where I will play next.”

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Praneeth said there is frequent consultation and exchange of notes among the Indian players on the opponents they face on the circuit. But that did not bear fruit this week. “We discuss regularly. If one of us has played against a player, he can give vital inputs to others.”

One common feature of all three quarterfinals was the inability of the Indians to deal with the dogged defence and changes of tempo of their opponents. “I got impatient as he (Chen) was returning all my shots and then hitting hard when he got the slightest opportunity,” Praneeth, who won the Singapore Open Super Series last year said. “I also didn’t get enough time to train.”

In Saturday’s semifinals, Bin will face Chen while Iskandar will take on fourth seed Shi Yuqi from China.