Vol. 2. No. 10 November-December 2010For Private Circulation Only

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Nov-Dec 2010GUTS - A Window into World Badminton>2

Saina wraps it in style

To a country long accustomed to dominating badminton -- especially the

women’s events – China has a problem on its hands. It’s called Saina Nehwal.

Its post-Beijing Olympics generation of women’s singles players, led by Asian Games champion Wang Shixian, and dubbed ‘The Little Flowers’ – suffered a blow on Saturday as Saina came from a game down to beat Shixian in the last Super Series event of 2010. As the 12-event Super Series (SS) circuit ended, the Indian had accomplished a rare feat – she had won more SS titles (three) than any other player, despite playing in only five of those.

In a year in which China overwhelmed opposition at both the Worlds and the Asian Games, the Hong Kong Super Series provided further indication that the Little Flower generation might not have it all their way, like the generation of Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang that gave them most of the top prizes in women’s singles over the first eight

years of the decade.

The ‘Little Flowers’ – essentially a bunch of Wangs (Wang Shixian, Wang Xin, Wang Lin, Wang Yihan), and the odd Lu (Lu Lan) and Jiang (Yanjiao) – seemed to have found their best bet in Shixian, who won the Swiss Open Super Series and the prestigious Asian Games gold medal. A steady, all-round player, comfortable with long retrieving spells, Shixian had the kind of game that would trouble Saina – a stonewaller who would keep challenging the attacking Indian to better herself after every rally. At the World Championships Shixian had outplayed Saina in under half-an-hour, a 21-8 21-14 result.

If the Hong Kong Open triumph was special for one reason, it was this – that Saina had her revenge against two players who had beaten her in recent months. Her quick demolition of local hope Yip Pui Yin – her conqueror in the Asian Games quarterfinals – and Shixian, who beat her at the Worlds, meant that the earlier losses had stung, and she had what it took to reverse those verdicts.

“I wasn’t tense at all in the final,” Saina said over phone from Hong Kong. “Mentally, I’m good, and in rhythm. When I’m like that I’m very hard to beat. I’d worked very hard before the Asian Games, but after that I was relaxed, and I think that worked. I’ve won three Super Series this year, it’s more than what I expected. I’m going to take it easy now for a while.

“I know how disappointed I was with the quarterfinal loss in the Asian Games. That was one gold I was desperate to win but things fell apart in that contest against Yip,” she said. “The Hong Kong Open was a huge challenge. It is always difficult to beat Chinese players because they are physically strong… but it is not impossible. I went in with this attitude,” said Saina. “The Chinese are not invincible. All that you have to do is to really prepare well, work hard and come up with the right game on the given day. That’s exactly what I did today.”

It has been an astonishing year for the current world No.4, a year in which she won three Super Series titles, the Commonwealth Games gold medal at home, a bronze at the Asian Championships, and consistent performances at all the other major events (semis at the All England, quarters at the Asian Games). The next year might well see the start of a whole new chapter in women’s badminton.

‘Aiming for no.1 ranking’I will be happy if I finish the year with No.1

ranking. I don’t know yet what the system

is and how it is going to happen. I think this

year I will be remaining at world No.3 or No.4

but winning this tournament is like becoming

world No.1 for me. So it’s ok. I will achieve it

this year or next year. I mean, all players want

to become world No.1 and I have the same

dream. Let’s see when I will achieve it.

On the year 2010:

It has been a dream year for me. I played

five Super Series out of 12 and really happy

that I did well in three of them and lost in the

semifinals in one of them. Also winning the

Commonwealth Gold was a memorable one.

Recognition in India:

I’m happy with the Padma Shri and Khel

Ratna award. What else does a player need? I

would like thank Gopi and Bhaskar Babu sir.

They worked hard for this.

On the Hong Kong Open final:

I was very relaxed during the whole

tournament. I had worked very hard for the

Asian Games, and I was very disappointed

that I hadn’t done well. But I wasn’t depressed.

It was important to do well at Hong Kong and

finish the year well.

I don’t know what happened at the Asian

Games. Sometimes, when you’re tense, you

don’t know what happens. Yip was lucky

that day, she was playing very well at the net,

and I was a bit defensive. At Hong Kong, I

was ready. I played a lot of drop shots, I was

aggressive. In the final I wasn’t tense at all.

In the first game I was on the faster side, and

I was sure I would do well in the second. I

wanted a lead early in the third from the faster

side, and it worked out. Mentally, I was very

good, and in rhythm. When I’m like that, I’m

hard to beat.

I have a feeling that I do have an upper-hand

whenever I face a Chinese in the final of a

major event. Definitely, I am no scared about

taking on these Chinese girls. If only I play as

perfectly as I did in the Hong Kong Open right

through, then I have every chance of winning

some more big Super Series titles.

Her goals next year:

My aim is to win a Olympics medal and I will

be happy if I win the World Championships as

well, also all the Super Series.

Super Series titles, 2010Three – Saina Nehwal

Two: Wang Xin, Wang Yihan, Jiang Yanjiao

Having won three Super Series titles in five appearances, Saina emerges most successful women’s singles player

Nov-Dec 2010 >3

The ‘father’ of Chinese badminton looks back upon a successful life

At 77, there is contentment in Wang Wen Jiao’s eyes. He calls this his “second life” -- a time to relax and meet friends and visit countries. He’s fond of recounting that, in his ‘first life’, he visited 43 countries but only saw the insides of hotels and stadiums.

Wang can afford to be proud of himself, for he is architect of one of the most astonishing success stories in sport. In 1954, when he left his birthplace in Solo, Indonesia, to China, the land of his forefathers, he would carry with him little else but the blueprint for a stunning turnaround in badminton. Today Wang is known as the ‘father’ of Chinese badminton -- the one man who designed the system that has been so successful it has been likened to a machine.

With the possibe exceptions of table tennis (China) and basketball (USA), no sport has been so dominated by a country as China has badminton. The sweep of all five titles in the recent World Championships was just another milestone on the great journey that began with Wang Wen Jiao.

“I’d picked up badminton in Solo,” said Wen Jiao in an exclusive interview with Guts, on the sidelines of the 17th World Chinese Badminton Championship. “I returned to China with three of my friends, and we decided to spread the game. Nobody in China knew of badminton in those days. We travelled across the country and held demonstrations, and slowly the game got popular.”

By the Sixties the first generation of the great Chinese had arrived, and Wang was chief national coach. He designed a modern training system that emphasised on one aspect -- speed. All things being equal, speed would always trump skill. “From the beginning, I was clear that my students had to be fast and strong. Even

if skill is average, it’s okay. During our first trip to Denmark in the late Sixties, we saw a television programme in which they asked: ‘Can the Chinese play badminton?’ The next day our player thrashed Erland Kops 15-0 in the first game. Erland Kops had already won six All England titles by then.”

But more than any one player, Wang’s triumph consisted in creating a system that would be the envy of the world. His first generation of students -- Hou Chia Chang, Fang Kai Hsiang and Tang Hsien-hu, would decimate the opposition in the few events they played, such as Asian Games, Asian Invitation and a few exchange tours. Once they entered the international fold in 1981, they won the Thomas Cup on their first try.

“The main thing was speed,” Wang says. “I developed a system which was compulsory throughout China. If someone wanted to become a coach, they had to learn my syllabus for three months. The government backed us. We had a lot of players, and we rewarded them well. That’s why we were able to excel.”

The Chinese’s ‘speed first’ philosophy had shocked the badminton-playing world, for nobody had seen anything like it. Among the prime specimens of that logic was world champion Han Jian, who was picked up from a football field. “One of my coaches

went to the north of China, where nobody played badminton, but football was popular,” he said. “He was watching a football game and spotted a youngster who had great speed and excellent footwork. We picked him up and started training him. He had no skills but was fast and great a defence. He was Han Jian.” Han Jian would become one of the pivots of the Chinese team that achieved its early successes at the Thomas Cup (1982) and World Championships (1985).

Wang was so confident of China’s superiority over Indonesia that he says he challenged the Indonesians several times. “I told them -- we’re ready for Rudy (Hartono) anywhere, any time, any place. But they never responded.”

Wang’s post as chief coach would be taken by Hou Chia Chang and later, Li Yongbo, and each would be as successful. “Training systems have changed,” says Wang. “I’m all for improvisation. Nothing should be static. I encourage Chinese coaches to go to other countries and spread the philosophy. I was asked by my federation if that would not hurt China’s chances. But I tell them we will survive only if we grow.”

the correspondent can be reached at: badmintonmania@gmail.com

Wang Wen Jiao with 1985 World Champion Han Jian

Wang Wen Jiao, the man responsible for China’s badminton successes, is thrilled at the prospect of badminton spreading to newer lands, writes our correspondent

Nov-Dec 2010GUTS - A Window into World Badminton>4

Memories of the Asian Games

These 16th Asian Games were my first ever. I had covered basically all the

badminton tournaments in the world but this one, part of a gigantic multi-sport event. I must admit I had no idea of the size and importance of it. We, in Europe, have no European Games. Maybe because the old continent is too small. Or because organizing such an event costs too much money. Either way, I was expecting a nice event, but nothing like what I saw. It was just like the Olympics, really. The atmosphere, set up, the amazing opening ceremony, the people involved, the smiles.

600,000 volunteers…

Of course, China, more than any other nation – apart from India maybe – can count on an amazing number of human resources to make their Games a success. Can you imagine, 600 000 young people mobilized to stand in the street, in the booths around the city, at venues to help spectators, in malls to help visitors, everywhere. 600 000! Schools and universities had been involved with this project for a long time and one could feel the excitement in these kids’ eyes. It was pride they had in their eyes to share their knowledge. It wasn’t just a job for them, but a true opportunity to make other people discover their country, their city. The Chinese, for that matter, are quite amazing and the volunteers, once again, are the ones who made these Games special.

Ups and downs for locals

As a foreigner, I always wonder whether the local people also welcome such a huge event. In Beijing, at the time, a lot of old houses had been destroyed and their inhabitants told to leave the place. In Guangzhou, of course, there was also a will to “hide” some parts of the suburban townships behind big Asian Games colourful paintings and ads “Thrilling Games and Harmonious Asia”. But I didn’t feel like the city had changed drastically as Beijing had in the months prior to the Olympic Games. Of course, it has its down-side as well, for local people, who could only take their cars every other day (odd and even numbers of their license plate authorized every other day), during the full duration of the event – including the Asian Para Games to come up after. A month of restriction, somehow. The inhabitants of buildings surrounding the stadium where the Opening ceremony was held were also simply asked to leave their flats to ensure a good flow of the show – they were just given passes for a few hours in hotels nearby, for the duration of the Ceremony. A very Chinese way of thinking, I suppose, but one cannot judge, and must admire the work, the search for perfection. And the local government tried to give back some of the money to the local inhabitants – a first try by providing free transportation in the new Metro, but after it appeared to make the transportation stuck

with too many people, they just allocated 150 yuan (around 20 euros) to each family in Guangzhou.

Bad timing

If the setup, the organization was close to perfect, there was however one thing that made this trip a bit too tiring for me anyways – maybe I’m getting old but I felt like my young colleagues were just as tired. But badminton sessions began very early in the mornings and ended late at night, with big breaks in the afternoon. This meant, not only for officials and reporters, but also for some players, that they had to wake up around 5 or 6 am to prepare for their match, travel over one hour from the Athletes’ Village, warm up, etc. I was lucky to be staying at a hotel nearby, but it was still a shame to have to get up so early when the sessions could have simply moved to a later hour for everyone’s benefit. It was not fair to some players, for example Yip Pui Yin, who had to play her semi-final match not even 12 hours after her success over Saina Nehwal and then went on to lose to one of the local players who was, of course, much fresher.

Impressive press services

Among the numerous “ups” were the great press service provided throughout the competition in the venue, starting with the amazing lighting. I wish we, as photographers, had similar lighting in all badminton venues. Also, if the photo positions were too restricted – but that has to do with the usual standard in Olympic and Asian Games – the photo positions in the stands were clearly marked and spacious enough for us to keep our heavy equipment near the shooting spots. It looked as if the hall was dedicated for photographers. Nice. As for written press, large desks with Internet cabling, and a bunch of amazing volunteers who kept anticipating any needs. Only a few minutes after each match, we were given the full match statistics and the quotes. I must thank all the friendly volunteers who made these long hours of work much easier to cope with.

Bye bye Hyo Jung

I’ll miss Lee Hyo Jung. The tall Korean player has won it all, also. She may not be the big star that Lin Dan or even her partner Lee Yong Dae is, but the 29-year-old did scoop an Olympic gold, an All England title, a Sudirman Cup, an Uber Cup, and finally, an Asian Games gold medal with a much

Nov-Dec 2010 >5younger partner. This was the good surprise of the finals. Hyo Jung had been amazing all week, shouldering Shin Baek Cheol as a “big sister” and scooping a well-deserved gold medal. I’ll miss her smile, her friendly behaviour, her way of celebrating, the emotions she shows on court, the obvious joy she had to play badminton. She called it quits during the last press conference and it was quite a surprise for even the Korean reporters, who had not anticipated that this would be her last match. She explained that it was time for her to move on to other things, outside badminton. One knows how much of a sacrifice it is to be a professional badminton player – basically devoting your life to hitting shuttles with not much of a life apart from that. She wants to get married, get back to her studies. She deserves that, really.

Funny Sports

Even if my days were pretty well completely taken up with badminton (thanks to the bad timing of the session), I was still able to hear or watch on TV some other sports played at the Asian Games. And there were some odd ones, really. Nothing compared to the Olympics. I wish I had had time to see Wushu – a martial art – or Sepak Takraw (a sort of volley-ball but played with the feet and head – very acrobatic), or even the roller sports, which include the summer version of speed-skating, but with some artistic events like figure skating! Of course, China scooped most of the medals. It was expected but it just shows the strength of the hosts compared to other, less populous nations such as Korea and Japan, who still had plenty of occasions on the podium.

Sold out? Only in theory

If there was one thing that organizers will have to look after for the future events is to monitor better the sales of the tickets. While some venues were said to be sold out, it turned out to be that halls were half empty. This was a shame when some friends of families of foreign delegations had made the trip to Guangzhou hoping to be able to cheer for their compatriots. People in this category had no other option than to try to negotiate with scalpers for prices which were sometimes more than 10 times higher than the printed price. What surprised me the most was that some people were actually reselling the tickets, not even hiding from local police officers standing a few meters away…

A black market ticket for Lin’s gold medal singles victory over Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei on Sunday went for as much as 5,000 yuan (US$750), far outstripping the 1,600 yuan that scalpers asked for Liu’s 110 meter

hurdles final, Nanjing daily newspaper Yangtze Evening News said.

The newspaper, which claimed to be one of the largest newspapers in the world by circulation (1,810,000), said scalpers wanted 1,600 yuan for tickets with a face value of 80 yuan to watch Liu at the 80,000-seat Aoti Main Stadium.

Happy Birthday!

What a good idea this was: On the second day of the tournament, Kunchala Voravichitchaikul was called by the local organizers to stand in the middle of the court to celebrate her birthday, while the whole stadium – not quite full but still – sang along a joyful “happy birthday”. It was the first time I had ever seen a spectacle like that and I found it a great idea. Kunchala didn’t really know what to do when she was given a puppet from Zhang Jiewen – a player she’d played many times in women’s doubles in the past before Zhang retired and joined the Guangzhou organizing committee.

Amazing Thailand

One of the lessons to be learnt from this event, sportwise, is that Thailand has become a major nation of badminton, with silver and bronze medals scooped in the team events. That was a great performance, but what’s more striking is the age of the girls who participated in this campaign. Needless to say that these 4 girls will dispute China’s hegemony in the months and years to come. And it’s overall great news for badminton in general.

Lee Chong Wei, just not lucky

I wish Lee Chong Wei had been born in a different time. He would probably have been world champion, Olympic champion, Asian Games gold medallist…because the Malaysian shuttler is just an amazing player. So clever, so talented. He has reached new heights lately with an improved game. If it hadn’t been for injuries that keep bothering him, and maybe a lack of confidence in some occasions, he would be the best in the world. But there is only one problem: he was born in the same generation as Lin Dan…probably the best shuttler of all time. There’s not much Lee can do about it, because Lin Dan is just a player out of this world and it’s just unlucky for Chong Wei that he has to be touring the circuit at the same time as this young left-handed conqueror, who has the capacity more than any other player to rise to the

occasion and just be unbeatable when it matters. I wouldn’t say that Chong Wei still needs to prove he’s the best in the world. He is. He’s shown it by giving a lesson of mental strength to Chen Jin – the reigning World champion – in the semis. Chong Wei is the best shuttler and deserves his world number one spot, as nobody knows whether Lin Dan could cope with the same type of a crazy schedule. But Lin Dan is better. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but that’s how I see it. There is Lin Dan, and there is the rest of the Planet Badminton. Let them share titles. I hope Chong Wei will get one of the major ones. He deserves it, truly.

Goodbye Guangzhou, hello Incheon

So, after Guangzhou’s nice warm weather, it will be Korea and Incheon – home of Seoul’s International Airport but a city on its own. There will likely be several sports dropped as the total number of sports will be only 35, which will consist of the 28 sports currently entered in the Olympic Games plus seven non-Olympic events featuring various sports from the Asian region. -Raphael Sachetat

(Raphael Sachetat is the founder-editor of Badzine.net, the most

popular badminton online magazine)

Nov-Dec 2010GUTS - A Window into World Badminton>6

with unexpected flicks and taking the pace away from the rallies. From there it was a virtual neck-and-neck fight, but at 19-all Neha made the critical error. With the court at her mercy she faltered on a net dribble that gave Sindhu match point. Neha saved that but could not keep away a second, which the Andhra girl sealed with a smash.

Prannoy was favourite in the men’s singles final, for the last few months have been a dream for the Kerala boy. Although he lost the second game against Nanda Gopal, there was no doubt that he had the match in his grasp, and from 9-8 he slowly powered ahead to leave his opponent gasping. At

12-8 came the one point that summed up his dominance over his contemporaries – Nanda Gopal cracked a hard smash down the forehand flank, but incredibly, Prannoy’s racquet met the shuttle; the return was killed with a hard backhand smash. His repertoire might not be as impressive as Sai Praneeth’s, but Prannoy does have a few weapons, and he knows how to employ them effectively.

Prannoy outclasses Praneeth in semifinals

In the women’s singles, Sindhu PV overpowered Thulasi PC, while Neha Pandit received a walkover from Sayali Gokhale, who was suffering the after-effects of food poisoning. That was a much-needed rest for Neha who played two long three-setters –

HS Prannoy and Sindhu PV underlined their status as the country’s hottest

prospects in badminton with emphatic wins in the Bank of India All India Senior Ranking badminton championship at Bangalore. While Prannoy took three games to overcome Nanda Gopal K 21-18 12-21 21-14, PV Sindhu was authoritative against fourth seed Neha Pandit, 21-14 22-20.

In doubles action, Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan won two titles each. Vishnu and Aparna won the mixed doubles, and then teamed up with Akshay Dewalkar and Prajakta Sawant respectively to win their doubles titles. There were no much of opposition for Arun Vishnu either in men’s or mixed doubles. Doubles is still a major concern in Indian Badminton. The worrying factor is that, expect some veterans practising with upcoming youngsters at RSC Kochi, no state associations have so far come forward to take up the challenge. Without a strong doubles base, India might struggle to find replacements to the current crop.

The Sindhu-Neha Pandit encounter was a tactically interesting battle, for Neha had the formidable challenge of figuring out a way to get past an up-and-coming rival who has few deficiencies at this level. The teenaged Sindhu uses her 5-ft 11” frame to great effect, and her ability to slip steep smashes and retrieve with minimum movement puts enormous pressure on any opponent. Neha discovered that in the first game as the shuttle just kept coming back, and a placement that might have been a winner against any other opponent was insufficient against the easy-moving, hard-hitting Sindhu.

Neha attempted to keep Sindhu pinned to the back by tossing deep on the backhand corner, and dragging her younger opponent crosscourt with a sharp slice, and the ploy did work, but it was predictable. With Sindhu’s speedy movement and attack of every shuttle that was marginally short, Neha had to fend off a barrage, and she crumbled in the first game.

In the second she seemed to have picked up momentum, for she stayed apace, and employed more tactical variations that disconcerted the younger girl. The match at times was an engaging contest between contrasting minds and styles; Neha ran into deficit at 11-14 and it suddenly seemed over, but the Padukone Academy girl fought bravely and intelligently, surprising Sindhu

Junior’s day out

Bank of IndIa SenIor rankIng

in the first round with Arathi Sara Sunil (20-22 21-10 21-18) and in the quarters with Daya Elsa Jacob (18-21 21-10 21-18)

Thulasi was expected to win or at least stretch Sindhu, but the tall girl used the full repertoire of her powerful game and was comfortable right through with her steep smashes and court coverage, she was able to nullify whatever Thulasi threw at her.

Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy - the rivalry between the two has been tight, but on that day, Prannoy played a smart third set to outwit his fellow Gopichand Academy-trainee, 21-19 18-21 21-14 in the standout match of the day.

Although a few big names were missing, it was excellent tournament for the upcoming juniors to showcase their potential in the senior event. Organizers went ahead despite several withdrawals, and full credit to them and the officials. Unlike many other events, players received their prize money just as they had finished their matches.

Prannoy, Sindhu clinch singles ; two titles each for Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan

Results (Finals):

Mixed Doubles: Arun/Aparna bt Pranav/ Prajakta 21-13, 21-19

Women’s singles: Sindhu PV bt Neha Pandit 21-14, 22-20

Men’s singles: Prannoy HS bt Nanda Gopal K 21-18, 12-21, 21-14

Men’s doubles: Akshay/Arun bt Sai Praneeth/ Pranav Chopra 21-17 21-18

Women’s doubles: Aparna / Prajakta bt Thulasi PC/ Sindhu PV 21-8 19-21 21-12

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Aditya Joshi comes through stiff testPV Sindhu extended her reign as National

Sub-Junior Girls’ Singles Champion by easily annexing the title without the loss of a set. She accounted for last year’s Mini Girls’ champion Ruthvika Shivani in the final, 21-13, 21-17. Ruthvika had an excellent run in the tournament, reaching the finals of both the U-16 singles and doubles (in the company of Poorvisha S Ram (KTK). Ruthvika beat fourth seeded Anjali Rawat of Gujarat in three close games in one of the best matches of the tournament 19-21, 21-10, 22-20. In the semis, in a replay of last year’s U-13 final, she beat Karishma Wadkar (MAH) 21-12, 22-20. Rituparna Das (WB), the top seed, reportedly suffering from an injury, had fallen in the pre-quarters to Poorvisha S Ram.

The ANA Badminton Asia Confederation Youth Under-17 & Under-15 event held in Chiba, Japan, from 29th October to 1st November had given the top youngsters of India a chance to match wits with the best in Asia. Aditya Joshi (MP) had done well to win a bronze medal in the Under-15 Boys’ category there, coming through two tough three-setters and losing in the semis after holding two match points against his Japanese opponent. Aditya used this rich experience to good effect and won his first Sub-Junior National title. The second seed beat seventh seed Shreyansh Jaiswal in three well contested games 21-19 16-21 21-9.

Shreyansh had earlier upset the top seed Arun George (KER) in the pre-quarters in straight games. Shyam Prasad (KER) was the surprise presence in the semis, having beaten third seed Arshalan Naqvi in the pre-quarters and Chirag Sen in the quarters. He fell to Aditya in the semis in two games. Harsheel Dani, one of the favourites, fell to KP Chaitanya in the quarters.

V Harika (AP) the hot favourite for the U-13 girls’ singles, won after hard fought three setters against Mahima Agarwal (KTK) in the quarters, Shreyanshi Pardesi (MP) in the semis and Santhoshi Hasini (AP) in the finals. The second seed Shikha Gautam (MAH) fell to third seed Santhoshi Hasini

adITYa JoSHI readS gUTS. do YoU?

Photo Cour tesy : badmintonphoto.com

Check your Badminton QuotientWho was voted the Most Valuable Player

of the Guangzhou Asian Games?

Please include your names with the answerSMS your answers to 9611833630

Answer to last edition's BQ:

Sho Sasaki Winners: Pradnya Gadre, Adarsh Binoy, J Deepak, Vasanth, Ankur

Sangpang Rai (Nagaland)

in the semis. Harika won a double crown winning the doubles with G Vrushali (AP).

Chirag Sen (UTR) was the favourite to win the U-13 singles having dominated the event during the last two years. He fell to the second seed Rahul Yadav in straight games in the finals. He had the consolation of winning the doubles beating Bodhit Joshi/ Lakshya Sen in the final. Chirag had the consolation of playing the quarters of all the four events he participated.

Lakshya Sen, Chirag’s brother, is already serving notice as one of the brightest prospects in the mini category. This

precocious 10-year-old, apart from reaching the doubles of the U-13 event, reached the pre-quarters of the singles and also reached the final qualifying round of the U-16 singles. With careful nurturing, he is sure to scale great heights. It is a little unfortunate that Ashmita Chaliha who also reached the final of the mini girls’ event is not living up to the potential she demonstrated early this year when she qualified for the women’ singles of the Senior Nationals held in Guwahati. With the establishment of a full-fledged coaching centre in Guwahati one hopes she will realize her potential and become a force to reckon with in the years to come. The draw of the Sub-Junior National was revised no less than two times. The third version had the title “after incorporating entries from Madhya Pradesh”.

The badminton fraternity has been taking pride in the fact that our conduct of domestic tournaments has finally stabilized and that the same is being done systematically and without compromise. This confidence has been shaken with this year’s Sub-Junior Nationals and the onus is on the BAI to ensure that they do not slip back on this very important aspect of badminton management.

-TR Balachandran

Results: BS U-16: Aditya Joshi bt Shreyansh Jaiswal (21-19 16-21 21-9)

GS U-16: PV Sindhu bt Ruthvika (21-13 21-17)

BD U-16: Talar Laa/Sai Tanuj bt Harsheel Dani/Aditya Joshi (21-19 16-21 21-16)

GD U-16: Maneesha/Sindhu bt Rithvika Shivani/Poorvisha SR (21-19 21-17)

BS U-13: Rahul Yadav bt Chirag Sen (21-15 21-16)

GS U-13: Harika bt Santoshi (21-15 19-21 21-14)

BD U-13: Rahul Yadav/Chirag Sen bt Bodhit Joshi/Lakshya Sen (21-15 28-26)

GD U-13: Vrushali/Harika bt Upasana Borgohain/Ashmita Chaliha (21-8 21-9)

24th Sub-Junior nationalSSaroornagar, hyd. nov 9-14

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton>8

Printed & Published by Thomas J. Kunnath, P4, KSSIDC Industrial Area, Mahadevapura, Bangalore - 560 048. Printed at National Printing Press, Koramangala, Bangalore-560 095. Email: thomasjkunnath@gmail.com, badmintonmania@gmail.com

Nov-Dec 2010

Opening Shortly atIndiranagar, Bangalore

Superdan marries girlfriend Xie Xingfang According to the Chinese website sina.com, Lin Dan officially

married Xie Xingfang after dating for almost seven years. Formely called ‘The Golden couple’ before Xie Xingfang’s retirement, Lin and Xie have now added their names to the Guangdong province official wedding register. However the newlyweds didn’t reveal when and where the wedding ceremony will be held and will probably not divulge anything in the meantime, as they had already stated that they wished to have an intimate ceremony to which the media will not be invited.

Solibad celebrates first anniversaryThe foundation Solibad – Badminton Without Border celebrated its first anniversary on December 13 after a year of hard work and lots of projects ahead. “It’s already been a year and we all can’t believe how much has happened since this small foundation was born” said Raphael Sachetat, president and founder of Solibad – Badminton Without Borders.

In a year’s time, the foundation, led by Global Ambassador Pi Hongyan, worked its way to the world’s biggest stages, with events happening during the Indonesia and Japan Super Series, funds collected all throughout the world, from leisure players, small clubs to top players. Peter Gade gave his gold medal scooped at the European Championships this spring, Koo Kien Keat collected money on his own by selling shirts and rackets and handed over

more than USD 1800. Taufik Hidayat gave rackets for auction, while Korean Super star Lee Yong Dae who offered his racket and shirt from the world championships. Lee Chong Wei also offered shirts and rackets and posed for a special Solibad photo session – as did many others top shuttlers – for a Solibad calendar and photo album soon to be distributed. All together, more than Euro 12,000 have been collected from various action and already been dispatched to the projects, with no waste whatsoever.

Super Series circuit has title sponsorThe Badminton World Federation (BWF) has signed up with

OSIM, a global leader in branded well-being and healthy lifestyle products, as the title sponsor of the BWF World Super Series. The three-year deal, beginning 2011, will include all 13 events in the BWF World Super Series calendar, including the BWF World Super Series Finals.

The agreement means the BWF World Super Series will now be known as OSIM BWF World Super Series. Following a review of its events in 2009, the BWF decided to introduce a two-tier Super Series circuit – the Super Series Premier and Super Series for the 2011-2013 season.

The partnership with OSIM is a massive boost for badminton and it underlines the BWF World Super Series as a global product,” said BWF President, Dr. Kang Young Joong.

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