PV Sindhu had salvaged Thursday from being a complete rout at the Denmark Open Super Series with everyone else exiting by the time of the second round at Odense. But even amidst the early exits, the one that deserved more than just the footnote was that of the men’s doubles pairing of B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri who lost 21-19, 20-22, 21-19 to Chinese Taipei pair of Sheng Mu Lee and Chia Hsin Tsai. The Indian boys have little in common in their personalities – Manu is an extrovert, loves to party; Sumeeth is reserved and loves the indoors. But both their fathers were athletics coaches and the two would extend their trial gig to a complete combination after winning the Nationals in just their first year of playing together. [related-post] While the two are yet to make any headway deeper into Super Series draws, their performances in the tier two tournaments have been encouraging, giving India hope of rare success in men’s doubles. Sanave Thomas-Rupesh Kumar were India’s last decent pairing that kept the country just about afloat in Thomas Cup but even their international success was modest. After three finals of Grand Prix this year, Sumeeth-Manu can begin to hope. “We’re totally opposite, but something clicked,” Sumeeth says. They would lose to the Taipei pair after botching a lead in the opening set and rue their lack of finishing finesse again in the final set that they had no conviction to close out. Yet, they are the faint glimmer India are looking for in men’s doubles. Manu is versatile at the net, Sumeeth, a Hyderabad boy, steady from the back in setting things up for his partner from Meerut.” Manu is chilled out, I take a lot of pressure. Too much of either of those things is bad for us, so we balance each other out,” Sumeeth says. Sumeeth’s brother was a race walker but badminton seemed like the sport to play after Gopichand’s All England title. “But we’re middle class, mum’s teacher, father headmaster. It’s been tough financially. We’ve spent about 5-6 lacs this year, so it’s good we’ve done well enough to get the government Olympics related funding. We’ll aim to qualify,” he says. Quizzed on whether doubles is ignored in India, Sumeeth says, “If we start winning, we’ll get what we deserve. But doubles haven’t won anything big, never a Super Series. I can’t talk till we win.” The “winning” started at the US Grand Prix where they beat three players ranked better than them. Playing at the Axiata League – the Indonesian league - continuously for ten days was also an eye-opener. “When you play top pairs on regular basis you realise how much you missing not having quality sparring in India,” Manu says. At the Syed Modi at start of the year, they’d beat the World No 8 and start believing. The big results are still awaited, but the pairing that plays with a natural ease and chemistry might go further than what others have before them. Lone survivor On Thursday though, PV Sindhu was the lone survivor into the Last 8 of the Denmark Super Series, after she got past a tricky clash against Taipese Tai Tzu Ying and looked at ease winning 21-12, 21-15 against the World No 4. Sindhu, who’s slipped to No 13 in the rankings, had suffered a third career loss against the phenomenally talented and extremely mercurial Tai Tzu at the Taipei Open in July. But on Thursday, the lanky Indian moved well on court and frustrated her opponent, a compulsive stroke-player, with a display of persistent defense picking everything, while drawing out the errors. “She had a lot of flicks, and is a good stroke player. I’d lost to her in our last match, but today I didn’t get caught up in her traps. I was moving well and read her perfectly,” Sindhu said. Tai Tzu has the widest array of strokes in women’s singles currently, but is prone to erratic play. Sindhu, who has matured past her own phase of up-and-down play, stayed composed while entering her first Super Series quarterfinal since having reached the same stage at Denmark last year. In the quarters, she meets familiar foe – China’s resurgent former World Champ Yihan Wang. Sindhu had famously beaten the tall Chinese on way to her first World Championship quarterfinal, but has lost thrice since, including a 72 minute first round loss at Australia in June this year. Sindhu still in pursuit of her first Super Series title, reckons her game’s good right now, and she stands a good chance against Yihan. “We’ve played a lot before, and I know I can beat her. Let’s see, it’s tough, but I’m feeling good.”
