2011 shows badminton in India is more than just Saina

In today’s highly competitive world of sports, there is hardly any time for players to reflect back on the season gone by or plan ahead. While they take a quick breather and get ready for 2012, Firstpost takes a look at the moments which defined Indian badminton’s year. First world championship medal in 28 years While the eyes of all badminton fans were on Saina Nehwal to end India’s medal drought in the World Championship, dark horses Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa surprised everyone with their bronze medal winning run. [caption id=“attachment_162318” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Jwala and Ashwini gave Indian badminton something to cheer about this year. Indranil Mukherjee/AFP”]  [/caption] The combination, that came together just three years ago, are known to be the hardest hitters among women on the international circuit. However, they have been consistently inconsistent throughout these years. But in 2011, both players showed the ability to raise their game in major tournaments like the World Championship and the Super Series premiers to close in on the top-10 world ranking. Average year for Saina After the high of 2010, it was always going to be difficult for Saina to replicate that form. She began on the right note with victory in the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold tournament and the Commonwealth Games gold. She was runners-up in the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold meet and the Indonesia Super Series as well. However, the 21-year-old struggled in the second half of the season. More than the lack of titles, the biggest worry was her losses against players she was beating easily for the last couple of years. She was inconsistent and the lack of confidence showed in big matches. Despite all this, the Indian ace has maintained her position in the world top-five and the Super Series finals in China this week proved that she is on the right track for the coming season. During the course of the tournament, Saina convincingly beat  players who troubled her throughout the year and that should boost her confidence going into the Olympic year. Gopi Chand-Saina fall out [caption id=“attachment_162326” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Have Gopi and Saina indeed managed to bury the hatchet? AFP”]  [/caption] It wasn’t as acrimonious as other mentor-pupil fall-outs in the world of sports. Both Gopi Chand and Saina maintained the facade of working together for months despite a complete breakdown in communication. During the period, Saina trained under Sports Authority of India coach Bhaskar Babu and it looked like the arrangement would continue till the Olympics. There are many theories behind the fall out, but neither Gopi nor Saina have ever commented on the issue. Currently, Saina is back with Gopi and the former All England champion has decided to travel with her for all tournaments till the 2012 London Olympic Games. However, it is still not clear whether this is just a working arrangement or both of them have indeed managed to bury the hatchet. Jwala-Chetan divorce The glamourous couple of Indian badminton separated within months of Jwala being linked with former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Jwala has always denied any affair, while Chetan has preferred not to discuss his private life in public. The three-time national champion has courted obscurity since then, nursing a knee injury that has kept him out of the circuit. The general feeling is that the career of one of India’s most talented shuttlers is all but over. Rise of Ajay Jayaram and PV Sindhu Mumbai boy Ajay Jayaram and junior national champion PV Sindhu staked their claims for the title of the rising stars of Indian badminton. Ajay, who had been struggling on the international circuit since 2009, came into contention for the Olympic berth with a fine run in the World Championship and the grand prix circuit. During the year, Ajay registered scalps of World No 7 Tien Minh Nyugen of Vietnam, former All England finalist Kenichi Tago to name a few. For 17-year-old Sindhu this was her first full year on the senior circuit and the lanky Hyderabadi showed her class by winning three international titles along with the gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games. She also reached the final of the Dutch Grand Prix and is currently ranked 42nd in the world. The junior show While the seniors were hogging all the limelight, the junior shuttlers also etched their names in the history books. Sameer Verma became only the second Indian to reach the final of the Asian under-19 championship, while G Ruthvika Shivani emulated the feat in the under-15 girls event. India also bagged two bronze medals in the under-15 category through Daniel Farid in boy’s singles and Anoushka Parikh/Lalita Katre in girl’s doubles. Aditya Joshi also won the bronze in the under-17 boys singles category. End of Verma era The 14-year reign of VK Verma as the president of Badminton Association of India (BAI) came to an end when he was arrested for alleged irregularities in the contract given to a Swiss time keeping company for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Verma was the Director General of the CWG Organising Committee. Following the arrest, Verma also resigned as the BAI president and former national level player and now Member of Parliament Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta took over the reigns of the association.