2015 World Championships: Saina and Kashyap spearhead Indian challenge

When the twenty-second edition of the Badminton World Championships begins on Monday, Indians will have more to cheer than they have ever in the past. This time around, India enters the annual event with around half a dozen of the eighteen member team being strong contenders in their respective sections.

For the historical perspective, India has won four bronze medals at the event, with all being bronze. Prakash Padukone was the first with his 1983 medal followed by Jwala Gutta Ashwini Ponnappa in 2011 and PV Sindhu bagging two in the last two editions. The squad comprises of a mixture of experienced players and aspiring newcomers.

After all the success in singles, the contrasting fortunes of our doubles players is often highlighted as the weak point in Indian badminton. Recent months, though, have given news enough to allay such fears. One is the appointment of Malaysian Tan Kim Her as the doubles coach, a spot that had fallen vacant for some time following Indonesian Edwin Iriwan’s exit in 2013. The other good news is the recent performances of our doubles players. Of them, the duos of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa and Manu Attri-Sumeeth Reddy have raised the hopes of many.

With their exploits earning them career high rankings of No.12 and No.17 in the world respectively, the clout for doubles players has increased significantly. With both the teams currently well posited to earn a Rio berth, the World championships will provide them an opportunity to grab some valuable points as the event offers the highest among BWF tournaments. It is too early to think of Rio berths, but both these teams have made the most in the first few months that count for the cutoff rankings.

Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy have managed successful purges of some higher ranked teams in the one last year, beginning with the upset of fifteenth seeded Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata in the World championships last year. The Japanese faced another defeat at this year’s US Grand Prix Gold event and are drawn to meet the Indians in the second round.

They then followed it up with wins over top ranked players from Denmark, Japan, Poland and even wins over two Chinese teams at the Asian Games and the All England Championships. Their recent performances have also seen improvement with them winning the Lagos International tournament, reaching the finals of the US Grand Prix Gold and the semi-finals of the recently concluded Russian Grand Prix.

By virtue of these results, they stand at the seventeenth position, their career best, in the rankings as of now. They open their campaign against the Chinese team of Cai Yun and Lu Kai who are ranked twenty-ninth in the world and have not faced the Indians. Facing a Chinese pair in the very first round is a difficult proposition. Though the Indians are the higher ranked team and have shown the ability to win such matches in the past, it will surely be a difficult one to pull off.

Can Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy continue their impressive form?

If they manage to keep their unbeaten record against the Japanese, they would then face the second seeds and the former no.1 team of Danes Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. The other team in is the duo of Pranav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar. They have an easy first round against the Russian team of Nikita Khakimov and Vasily Kuznetsov before they meet the tenth seeds Mads Conrad-Petersen and Pieler Kolding in the next round.

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have defied odds to posit themselves as the driving force of India’s doubles team today. After earning laurels that they have made our country proud, the duo will enter this year’s Championships stronger than ever, to grab their second medal at the event. Having reached their career high ranking of no.12, they are seeded thirteenth at the event. With a first round bye and an almost easy passage into the pre-quarterfinals, they are drawn to meet the eighth seeds Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda of Japan before a possible quarterfinals against the second-seeded Chinese pair of Luo Ying and Luo Yu.

They have not managed a single win against the Chinese in three of their previous meetings. This year, the doubles pair have had many reasons to cheer. They have reached their career best ranking and have scope to improve further. They won their first title in a long time, at the Canada Open Grand Prix. More than halfway through the season, they are on course to qualify for the year-ending Super Series Finals, where the top eight performers from the Super Series events compete.

They are also ahead in the Race to Rio, occupying the fourth spot currently. A medal at this event could be a tough one to ask, but the duo can certainly qualify for Rio and try to make amends there.

Pradnya Gadre and Siki Reddy will be the second Indian team in Women’s doubles followed by Dhanya Nair and Mohita Sahdev. The former duo faces Isabel Herttrich and Birgit Michels of Germany before a possible second round encounter against fourteenth seeded Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito of Japan, while the latter faces the French team of Delphine Lansac and Emilie Lefel in their first match and if they progress, eighth seeds Reika Kakiiwa and Miyuki Maeda of Japan in the second. Gadre and currently ranked 36th, are promising and upcoming players.

They teamed up after Ponnappa and Gadre split to facilitate the reunion of Gutta and Ponnappa and have since had decent success. They have five titles to their credit, including three in the last one year. With Gadre and Reddy aged 24 and 21 respectively, this might be the right time for them to rise.

For the Mixed doubles event, two teams will represent India. Tarun Kona and Sikki Reddy will face Liao Min and Chen Hsiao Huan of Taiwan while Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan face Evgenij and Evgenia Dimova of Russia in their first rounds.Though winning medals might be a tough task, these four would look to give their best to win a match or two.

Can Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa repeat their 2011 exploits?

Moving on to the singles, where India seem to have a greater chance of securing a medal, all the players come in as true contenders. And amongst them, Saina Nehwal is the clear leader. The 25-year-old, who ascended to the top spot only recently, has the opportunity to reclaim it at the end of this event. A peek into her previous performances at the World Championships would throw up an interesting fact. She played her first World Championships in 2009 in Hyderabad and has lost exactly in the quarterfinals each time, with all the defeats coming against Chinese players.

This has been one of the most worrying records of her career and is interlinked to her bad record against the Chinese though she has managed some very good wins against them. This year, second seed Saina is drawn to face Sayaka Takahashi in the pre-quarters and then Wang Yihan in the quarters. Her rivalry with the Former no.1 has been dominated by Yihan with the Chinese claiming nine wins against one that Saina managed at the All England Championships earlier this year apart from a retirement by Yihan at the 2012 Denmark Open.

She has had a memorable last 12 months, which has seen her rise to the top of the world rankings and finish runners-up at the All England Championships and also clinched the China Open Superseries Premier.If not for the record at the World Championships, Saina’s inability to win the Indian Open Super Series despite taking part every year would have counted as a major burden on her back.

The Hyderabadi won it earlier this year, and what more, she also got the coveted no.1 ranking that had been another such worry. At 25, she is at the prime of her career and is well poised to break the quarterfinal jinx at the city which saw her capture her first Superseries title and then repeat it another two times. In fact, she has stated many times that the crowd in Indonesia has been very supportive of her.

Looking beyond the quarterfinals, when she would be assured of her medal, a semifinal encounter would involve facing the winner of the likely quarterfinal clash between Ratchanok Inthanon and Tai Tzu Ying, two other players who have dominated in the last few months along with Saina and Carolina Marin to unsettle the Chinese.

The top half of the draw features another Indian hope - PV Sindhu. The 20-year-old has two bronze medals to her credit from her exploits in 2013 and 2014. The Indian, who is seeded eleventh, will look to make her better record against the Chinese count and could face Li Xuerui for a spot in the quarterfinals. Further progress would include possible meetings with Sung Ji Hyun in the quarters and Carolina Marin, the World no.1 and defending Champion, or Wang Shixian in the semis.

Can Saina Nehwal win her maiden World Championship medal

Despite her record at never having returned medal-less from the World Championships, Sindhu could face an early exit this time around with very little tournament practice prior to the event. She was injured and had taken a few months off from the tournament spree. Yet, she could surprise many with her result at this event.

Men’s Singles players also look to give for celebration this time around. Carrying the torch for the team is the world no.3 Kidambi Srikanth. He faces Michael of New Zealand in the opening round. With easy first and second rounds, he is drawn to face Hu Yun in the third round. His toughest test, though, will come in the quarterfinals, where he could play Wang Zhengming, Marc Zwiebler or Lee Chong Wei.

While he enjoys a positive head to head against the German, he has lost all four times he played the Malaysian. He is yet to play against the Chinese. Progressing further, he could face Jan O Jorgensen or Lin Dan in the semi-finals. Apart from a tough quarterfinal, his form in recent tournaments has been a cause of concern. After winning the Indian Open Super Series, he has lost in the second round of all the five tournaments he played. If he is not able to make a turnaround, he might as well falter at the first instance of resistance.

The player with the better chance to win a medal is Parupalli Kashyap, who has a better draw as is in better form. He will open against Erik Meijs in the first round.He is seeded tenth and is likely to face Kento Momota in the third round. He could then face Chou Tien Chen or Tommy Sugiarto in the quarters. Semifinals could see him being pitched against Chen Long or Viktor Axelsen.

With some amazing results to his credit from his exploits in the last one year, Kashyap is inching closer to his career best ranking of no.6 in the world. With his fine form, he is tipped to win a medal this time around. His biggest threat could be Kento Momota, the player who denied him the chance to win his first Superseries title at the Indonesia Open earlier this after he defeated Kashyap in the semifinals despite his fine form which saw him beat Chen Long in the previous round. Interestingly, Jakarta is the city where Kashyap has managed two wins over Chen Long, whom he could face in the semifinals.

The other Indian in is HS Prannoy, the eleventh seed. He starts his campaign against Alex Tjong of Brazil. He also has an easy outing till the third round, where he could face rising star Viktor Axelsen. The Dane has won their previous two encounters. Even if he manages to pull off an upset. the likely quarterfinal against Chen Long would be a tough match to win. Prannoy has not played since the Singapore Open due to injury.

Parupalli Kashyap has been in good form, but can he make the bigger leap now?

Expecting him to go far on his very first tournament back could be asking for too much. Yet, this lad has the potential to make some big names wince when they face him. He was slowly on the rise before injury halted his progress. He will look to resume his good performances with an eye on a Rio berth.

Having previewed the Indian team’s prospects, it can be said that this year could be the first time that Indians could return with multiple medals from the World Championships. Let’s hope for the best results from our stars!