Yonex Sunrise Indian Open a massive opportunity for inconsistent Indian shutters

Saina Nehwal returns to Thailand’s Intanon Ratchanok during their All England Open Championships women’s singles semi-final in Birmingham, England, on March 9, 2013. (Getty Images)

The first few months of 2013 have been a roller-coaster ride for the Indian shuttlers. Starting with badminton icon Saina Nehwal to Parupalli Kashyap, the performances of the country’s shuttlers have left a lot to be desired.

Saina, who capped a dream year in 2012 scooping up four major tournaments – two Super Series events (Indonesian Open and Denmark Open) and two Grand Prix Gold events (Thailand Open and Swiss Open) besides cornering a Olympic bronze at the London Games – has failed to make the final of all the four tournaments she featured in this year.

Her earliest exit came in the Victor Korean Open when she was shown the championship exit door in the quarterfinals by China’s Li Han in three games – a loss that must have disappointed her considering the fact that it was a Super Series Premier event.

The Hyderabad lass let her fans down once again in the Maybank Malaysian Open where she bowed out in the semi-finals, capitulating to Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipe in straight games – another disappointment in a Super Series event.

Saina showed signs of getting to her best in the All England Championship – Super Series Premier event – where she ousted China’s Wang Shixian in a tense game in the quarterfinals.

But she only flattered to deceive in the semis losing to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon. Her sequence of below-par displays continued when she lost in the semifinals of the Swiss Open – a Grand Prix Gold event – losing to Shixian Wang, who exacted revenge for her defeat at the All England Championships.

Saina’s fellow countrywoman PV Sindhu also has had a sedate run so far.

The gangling youngster has had two second round finishes at the Victor Korean Open and All England Championships, as her best this year, which is hugely disappointing considering the immense potential she possesses.

Sindhu will need to up her ante if she has to stay in the top-20.

However, Arundhati Pantawane, ranked in the nineties, made it to the semifinals of the Polish Open and so was PC Thulasi. Both these shuttlers otherwise had nothing much to write home about.

Our men’s shuttlers are not lagging behind our women shuttlers in terms of dishing out inconsistent performances. World number seven Parupalli Kashyap did reach the quarterfinals of the All England Championships, where he lost to China’s Long Chen, but by and large he has taken the ‘early exit’ route in all other tourneys this year.

30th ranked Ajay Jayaram hasn’t really lived up to his promise – barring his quarterfinal finish at the New Zealand Open, Jayaram has turned in a downbeat performance despite being seeded in two of the tournaments.

Kashyap Parupalli reacts after losing a point to China’s Chen Long during their All England Open Championships singles quarter-final in Birmingham, England, on March 8, 2013. (Getty Images)

RMV Gurusaidutt is another one who has to do a lot more to vindicate his potential. His best effort has been a third-round finish at the Yonex Australian Open where he lost in the third round to world number one Chong Wei Lee of Malaysia – the bright spot from that match was that the Indian took a game off Lee.

Same applies for Sourabh Varma as well – the MP lad had a slew of early exits – his best effort being a second-round finish at the All England Championships.

Among the pall of disappointment, Anand Pawar made it to the Yonex German Open but cut a downcast show in other events.

Arvind Bhat, who is ranking outside the top-90, sprang a surprise at the New Zealand Open, upsetting sixth seed Andre Kurniawan Tedjono in the third round before biting the dust in the quarterfinals.

The Yonex Sunrise Indian Open presents a massive opportunity for the Indian shuttlers to redeem themselves and turn in a power-packed performance. And playing in front of their home fans should be an added motivation to make the country proud.