Has India discovered a star in Sourabh Verma?

Sourabh Verma with the national title

Even as the fast-and-furious HS Prannoy held two match points in his semifinal against Sourabh Verma at the National Badminton Championships earlier this week, some of us in the audience knew it was far from over.

It was almost inevitable, the way he crawled out of that hole. Prannoy had manoevred him to one side of the court and attempted a risky crosscourt drop shot that fell out by millimeters. One match point saved, and Sourabh needed no further invitation.

It is in a moment like this that a champion defines himself. Sure, every champion will have to save scores of match points, but in Sourabh Verma’s case, there is something special, something extra, that marks him out. He seems to revel in crises. That’s not something you could say for a lot of Indian sportsmen.

Sourabh’s first big final was against Anup Sridhar at Bangalore a couple of years ago. Anup was expected to roll him over, but Sourabh provided surprisingly strong resistance before falling. It should have been a sign of things to come.

Over the next year – 2011 – Sourabh served notice of his potential. In match after match, he’d prove a doughty opponent, refusing to buckle in the direst of circumstances. At the India Open Superseries he won two qualifying matches, took down former Asian champion Sony Kuncoro of Indonesia and stunned everybody by breaking top-ten player Kenichi Tago in three games, before falling to world No.1 Lee Chong Wei in the quarterfinals.

What was so surprising was his composure under pressure and unwillingness to let a match go despite facing opponents ranked way above him. No one would have blamed him had he lost early, for that was expected of a player with little international experience; instead, he kept on going.

After winning the Bahrain International in November, he had another stirring run at the year-ending Syed Modi GP Gold in Lucknow. With wins over Chan Kwon Beng (Malaysia), Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia), the classy Hu Yun (Hong Kong) and Suppanyu (Thailand), he surged into the final against the unparalleled Taufik Hidayat.

He showed little signs of being intimidated as he fought toe-to-toe against Taufik, before falling before the Indonesian’s guile and greater experience. “Taufik changed the game after 15 in each game,” Sourabh said. “He played a totally different style after that. I didn’t find it hard to read him, and I was comfortable with the pace.” The result of his giant-killing runs has been a world ranking of 48 in quick time.

Sourabh gives little indication of the state of his mind on court. He doesn’t exhibit much whether he’s leading or trailing, and the only sign of a good point is a pumped-up fist. His unwillingness to give up despite being in dire situations is characteristic of a top-quality player, for that is the hardest asset to develop, and cannot be taught. “What you call my mental composure… for me, it’s just about the next point,” he says. “Like, when I was down 17-19 against Praneeth in the final, I didn’t want it to go to three games. I wanted to finish it right there.”

There appears to be steel behind the concrete exterior, and it’s possible that India now has a potential top-20 player. Whether he can go higher is too early to say, for his weapons need to be tuned, and he needs more variety to his game. His defence is his forte, as is his court coverage, but he needs to add more heft to his smashes.

For the moment, we can rejoice that we have a national champion who is a pretty tough guy to beat.

World No.1 Lee Chong Wei’s opinion of Sourabh Verma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyzizAZ_ElE