A week before Arvind played the German Open, he entered an all-India event in Bangalore. He wasn't sure if he wanted to play the event at all because he was suffering from severe backache. But his physio, Muthu, gave him enough confidence and asked him to play.
The result was a second round loss to 15-year-old Siril Verma. After this result, a dispirited Arvind had almost made up his mind to withdraw from the German Open. But he knew that even if he didn't play the tournament he had to go to Germany and play his club matches the weekend before the German Open was scheduled to start.
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At this point Arvind was ranked 87 in the world. That made him unsure about even making it to the main draw in the German Open. So there was nothing for him to do but wait with baited breath for the tournament schedule to come out. The draw gods were kind to him as he had made it to the main draw.
This made him make up his mind and since he was going to Germany anyway, he decided that he might as well play the tournament too. Before heading off to the event, Arvind spent one week in India doing weights, resting and meditating. In fact, he didn’t even enter the court once the week before he left for Germany.
On arriving in Germany, Arvind played two singles in the club matches where he beat two decent players in the league. These two wins were crucial to get his confidence back as in both the matches Arvind won whilst keeping his opponent’s score under 10.
Arvind had to play a higher ranked player right from the second round in the German Open. But he was not scared of playing anyone in the draw. In fact, his experience told him it was good to play top players in the beginning as they were most vulnerable at the beggining of a tourney.
He beat Hu Yun in the second round, a player who was ranked number four in the world at that time. After passing the Hu Yun test he felt anything could happen if he really focussed. More importantly, his back held up pretty well all through the match.
To his credit, the rest and treatment from the week before, which he thought would be a hindrance to perform, actually seemed to have helped him to peak.
The match against Hu Yun had drained Arvind as he had to really dig deep for the win. However, it gave him the confidence of going right till the end. He also realised that he could not survive the full week if he played long matches every single round.
However, his game improved as he finished off matches in the next two rounds quite quickly (half an hour each), beating Darren Liew and Victor Axelsen in straight games. The easier matches helped him save some energy.
He felt he had luckily managed to save enough fuel to survive right till the very end. That energy did him good as Arvind played a thriller of a match in the semifinals against Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou.
Arvind had no problems in disposing of Chou in the first game after taking a 6-3 lead which he was able to maintain all throughout. Chou however meted out the same treatment to Arvind in the second game when he broke off at 6-6 and marched ahead.
But in the decider, Arvind fought till the end after Chou had stepped up his game. They battled from 6-6 to 14-14, with the lead changing hands frequently. Arvind was ahead by a point after that and even though Chou caught up at 20-20, Arvind successfully staved off the challenge in the end.
If you ask a player how exactly he won a final, it will be tough to get a precise answer. Finals are always very difficult. You are tired both mentally and physically. You are also in a ‘zone’.
Arvind had played some great matches throughout the tournament. Vittinghus on the other hand was a tough opponent; a fighter.
Arvind had a lot at stake in this final. If he won this match he would create history. He would have become one amongst 10 Grand Prix Gold or Super series winners in the history of Indian badminton. Additionally, he would become the only Indian player to have won the German Open title. Arvind would also become one of the few players in the history of modern badminton to have won a 4 star event at the age of 34.
Most importantly, he was one win away from his very own dream title. That one title that he had worked towards for the last 12 years.
However, none of this was on Arvind's mind that day. He had lost enough finals to learn his lessons from.
Arvind entered the court calm and confident. His control over his emotions working wonders, he won the first game and took the lead in the second at 17-12. That was the first and only time he thought about winning and celebrating, which soon made him lose focus and become complacent. The result was disastrous as he lost the second.
After losing his lead Arvind started to sort himself out and told himself to fight till he couldn't fight anymore. His stern belief was replicated in his execution. He ground it out and showed true grit as he fought his way to the title.
Arvind, however, remained calm after winning the title, with absolutely no outward celebration on his part. His was the movement of a saint and the court, his place of meditation.
