GUTS: January 2011 by Dev Sukumar

Vol. 2. No. 11

For Private Circulation Only

January 2011

Inside

-Thomas Lund interview - Revisiting Punch Gunalan - Arvind, Aditi, Rupesh on their national titles

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Jan 2011

‘We have a good story to tell’ THOMAS LUND, Chief Operations Officer of the Badminton World Federation, in an exclusive chat with DEV S SUKUMAR Could you outline your vision of the new Super Series circuit? Where do you see it going? Well, this (Malaysia Open) is the first tournament, and we are seeing some positive signs. There is the commitment from the hosts and organizers to do something extra. There are some things happening that you see, and some things behind the scenes, in how we manage the tournament, and how we get to spread in terms of TV exposure. All the hosts are stepping up a few notches in how they present the tournaments, how they use different things for spectators -- big screens, and the branding around the tournament. So there are many positive signs that it is going in the right direction. After you took over as COO, what were the processes you initiated? What were your goals? One of the things we did was to initiate a big research project where we went through the quality of what we were doing, and benchmark that against other sports, into what we could do better. That report gave us a lot of ideas on what we could do, how we could rearrange the structure, and thereby arrived at this new concept with Super Series and Premier Series, and our commercial structure and TV distribution, which are different now, and the whole way of discussing with organizers what we needed to do. It’s not only about increasing prize money, but it’s also about all your other things behind the scenes. It has to be a quality setup, should be a lasting setup. Thereby we can attract more interest from sponsors, and generate more money. We try to generate a positive, growing spiral over the next year.

have a professional way of presenting the tournament and showcasing the sport. But it’s also about getting good TV distribution around the world which is crucial for sponsors and partners. We have a new agreement with Total Sports Asia – they’re working hard to get the distribution spread to all parts the world, which should generate sponsor interest. Talking of TV coverage – has it expanded? We’re still in the process, but we can see that the coverage will be more than in previous years. We’ve seen it expanding over the last year. Are there requests from new areas for badminton footage? It’s not only about requests, it’s also about aggressively going in and trying to distribute the signal. That’s something we’re working on now. It’s very early, but we’re ahead of last year and I’m sure we’ll end up with good results at the end of the year. Despite the spread of badminton, the game is still dominated by the traditional powers. Are you worried that there are no new challengers? I think we do see new countries other than the traditional ones slowly creeping in. If you see the doubles, you have Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia… countries that have some quality players. Of course we’d like to have a wide spread of players of many nationalities. We’re aware that some countries have very strong traditions, and those countries will always have more players for years to come. But other countries are not doing too badly, which is something we appreciate.

What are the challenges in finding sponsors in badminton? How do you convince them to put money into badminton?

Eastern Europe has good potential. Those countries have developed a lot, and hopefully will have more good players coming through. The Pan-American region is developing well at the moment.

One of the key things we’re trying to do is to have a credible, consistent setup to all the 12 tournaments that we’re hosting. We of course as BWF are trying to guide all the hosts to have a good, strong, consistent planning setup around their tournaments,

It’s good that Denmark and other countries in Europe can still give a good match to Asian players. The positive about Asia is that you actually see more and more Asian nations coming up. You see Vietnam, Thailand… the game is spreading in Asia.

BWF had development centers in Sofia and Saarbrucken. What’s the status of those centers? We have slightly revised our training structure. We’re not running our own centers; we’re endorsing other centers. We’ve endorsed two in Denmark, and are endorsing two in Asia. That will hopefully give choices to players to go to different places through the year for sparring and training. What are your thoughts on India? How do you see the India story? India is no doubt one of the areas that’s developing -- maybe the most positive development story at the moment. We can see a lot of it is built on Saina’s success obviously, but also other players coming up. I can see a strong badminton culture building in India, and interest both from media side, and the grassroots side. It’s not only about writing about Saina, and showing her matches, but also a lot of players and a lot of things happening at the grassroot level, which can have a longerlasting result. Are you planning any specific project for India? Well, we don’t have a specific project for India. Most projects are done by member associations. We offer member associations some projects where they can ask us for help. India is running many projects, they’re developing their own officials and coaches,

Jan 2011

many things are already happening any way. Our focus is on countries at a slightly lower level. If India come to us, we’d look to help them. The granting of the Super Series was a big step for India… That should help the region to come even stronger and have a continuous tournament being hosted at the highest level. I followed the Commonwealth Games closely. I could see 24x7 coverage in Malaysia. I’m biased, but I think badminton was one of the best sports in the CWG. The venue and set-up were good; I didn’t hear any issues of how the tournament was run. It was a big success story for India and badminton. You were a player who is now into administration. How has the transition been? Busy (laughs). It’s been busy, but it’s been fun. There’s still a lot to do. We’ve gone through a research project, gone through a phase where we defined what we wanted to do -- setting up a strategy -- and now we’ve gone into the implementation stage. What would you like to see in five years? Is tennis a benchmark? We don’t want to be compared to tennis, but we’d like to take the good part from what we could call the successful global commercial sports such as tennis, football, golf, and get closer to the widespread interest they have globally. I think we have great interest in some countries, where we beat football, tennis and golf, but we want to do that in more countries, to beat them! I hope we can slowly expand the base we have over the next few years, and become a more recognizable global sport. There are countries where badminton is played and known, but it has to pick up on the commercial and TV level. I think we have the product now. We have a decent presentation, we have good players and good names, we now have to get it out there and tell people about it. Are you seeing signs that badminton has stepped up a level? Definitely the organizers and people working behind the scenes are enthusiastic about what’s happening. Some of the things we’re trying will slowly pick up – in terms of branding of the Series, and making the tournaments part of a series that’s bigger (than individual events). We’re not just playing the Proton Malaysia Open; we’re actually playing twelve legs of something’s that part of a bigger scheme, and where people will follow the players through the year, on the road to the finals. We have a good story to tell.

‘there should be five sainas’ Few coaches worldwide have the wideranging experience of TOM JOHN. The India-born British national, formerly in charge of the England team, and currently with Portugal, has worked with some of the best names in the business, including Morten Frost and Pullela Gopichand. In a conversation with TR Balachandran, Tom John recaps the European decade for GUTS: With the advent of Zhao Jian Hua and Yang Yang of China, defensive players were left with very little chance of winning. When Liem Swie King brought in brute speed and power in the 80’s badminton had players like Prakash (Padukone), Morten (Frost) and Icuk (Sugiarto) who had the ability and defensive skills to counter it. During the last decade, we have not had players with such calibre and most players play fast and furious with little accent on accuracy and finesse.

Accent on doubles:

Now, players have to be trained to become quicker and more explosive on court. They need to have more stamina as well with fewer breaks in between and with umpires being stricter than before.

There is a disturbing trend among European players to ignore singles and concentrate on paired events, maybe in an effort to get higher in the world rankings. This has brought the standard of singles in Europe perceptibly down. But, thanks to the developmental work of Badminton Europe, a lot of nations, relative newcomers like Lithuania, Spain, and Poland are taking to the game right in earnest and showing encouraging results. This is a big plus for European badminton. Players from these nations are fresh and raring to do well on the world stage.

The European challenge:

Indian badminton:

Peter Gade straddles the last two decades. He is a complete player who can play fast as well as rely on his skill and defense when situation warrants. Thus he has been able to remain successful even at this stage of his career when he cannot blast past his opponents. Jan O Jorgensen (Den) is coming up the world rankings but I think he has limitations in style. Viktor Axelson the World Junior Champion and is young and talented. He could be the next best from Europe.

Gopi has done a good job as national coach by incorporating modern trends in training and built up quite an array of talent including Saina. India’s strength is in its numbers and if nurtured judiciously, there could have been at least five Sainas and five men in the top world 20 by now. A lot is lost because of inefficient sports administration, regionalism etc. I hope India can build on the wave created by Saina’s remarkable success in a much more effective manner. I also wish Saina and Gopi don’t rest on their laurels and that they should push hard for an Olympic medal, wins at the All England, China Super Series etc, which are well within their grasp.

Camilla Martin used to hold her own against a bevy of very talented Chinese super stars like Dai Yun, Gong Zhichao, Zhang Ning etc. and I feel she was Europe’s best during the decade. Tine Baun came up only during the last two to three years and has been successful but the quality of opposition has also not been as great. Talent-wise, Rajiv Ouseph, Commonwealth Games silver medalist, has the potential to become a top-5 player in the world. But he lacks the passion to work very hard and fulfil his enormous potential. I am not at all satisfied with his current ranking of 20.

On-court coaching: This was introduced in an effort to add spice to the game with TV viewership in mind. The Chinese, Koreans etc. are coach-dependent whereas the Europeans are independent. I think it would be very good idea to pose this question to players who are the objects of on-court coaching. I have a feeling that they welcome it rather than consider it as interference.

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Jan 2011

Aditi, Arvind emerge on top Rupesh takes ninth successive title; double for Prajakta Sawant The 75th Senior National Badminton Championships were held in Rohtak from 3rd to 10th January 2011. The women’s events lost a bit of sheen due to the absence of Commonwealth Games medallists Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. In their absence, there were new champions in all the women’s categories. Aditi Mutatkar, whose promise and performance has been overshadowed by the phenomenal Saina over the last five years, finally added the women’s national title to her collection. In the women’s doubles, Aparna Balan won her first national women’s doubles title, combining with Prajakta Sawant. Prajakta

scored a creditable double winning the mixed doubles as well, partnering Pranav Chopra, upsetting the top seeds Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan. Arvind Bhat gave a commanding performance and vanquished the highest ranked international in the fray, P Kashyap, in the final. It was Arvind’s second title in six finals. His first title also came at the expense of Kashyap in 2009 in Indore. Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas won their seventh national title together without losing a set during the entire tournament. It was Rupesh’s ninth consecutive title overall, having won his first two titles in the company of Markose Bristow. For Sanave, it was the eighth title, amazing fitness and consistency at the national level indeed. Rohtak will be remembered for the excellent quality of AS50 shuttles used and the extremely cold weather. The prize on offer for the singles winners, in addition to prize money were Maruti SX4 cars and this also played a part in making the battles very keen in these events.

75th National c’ships rohtak, Jan 3-10

Everything fell in place: Arvind Bhat Before my first national title I went in thinking I’d treat it as just another tournament. This time I went in with the same attitude. I played four tournaments before the nationals. Before that I had eight weeks of training with Vinod Kumar T.P (at the Padukone Academy). That really helped, and my fitness was very high. I went in thinking I was fit; also, mentally I was ready. I wasn’t panicking, I knew exactly what I was doing. It will be a challenge to replicate it (mindset) in every tournament. I’ve just got the hang of it. I will miss Vinod (the trainer has since left the Academy); he knew everything that was happening with my body, and he had got to know the requirements of badminton. I’ve been working on the mental side for six years – NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), meditation, and all that. It (mental toughness) is essentially a process of self-discovery. It’s about how I approach training, and the time between Arvind Bhat with the national championship trophy

training, like my sleep, warm-up, cooldown, etc. I’ve definitely graduated from the level I was at when I won my first nationals. From now, what I do will be based on this formula. It’s hard to put in words. For sure, I’m a better player now. I was so confident when the final started. Earlier, I’d feel it was my day, and yet would lose. This time, I knew it was my day, and I won. My mental and physical fitness was tested, and I came out victorious. It’s not just about the result. Kashyap has changed as a player; he is now at a high level. I feel he’s top-20 material. Frankly, I’d given him the vote to win the nationals. I might have a maximum of two years left in the game. My aim now is to play well and enjoy it.

I badly needed to win something: Aditi ADITI MUTATKAR can finally afford a smile. The women’s singles title she won recently at the national badminton championships will erase some of the pain and frustration caused by a succession of injuries. The Puneite, one of the most injury-prone players on the circuit, managed to come back in the final from two match points down against young contender Arundhati Pantwane. In a chat with GUTS, Aditi relives the final and the reasons behind her performance: Winning the nationals must have been a big relief, after all that you’ve gone through… It was pretty satisfying, because December 2010 was very tough. I didn’t know if I’d be fit to play the nationals. I hurt my left calf just before the Asian Games -- it happened so close to the event that I couldn’t even decide whether to participate or not. When I returned I did some tests and found the knee had some problems; it had become weak, and that’s why there was pressure on the calf. Luckily there was no tear. So the first two weeks I had to take rest, and I was unsure of my fitness, and I didn’t play the India Open and the Tata Open. I was a little frustrated. I decided to rest for two-three weeks, and when I began training again I found it wasn’t so painful any more. But I’ve become used to dealing with injuries. How fit were you when you went in to the nationals?

Jan 2011

I was in a good frame of mind. I was feeling good on court, and I decided to take one match at a time. I decided to enjoy playing, and I was calm right through. The court was slow; there were a lot of long rallies right from the pre-quarterfinals. There were no easy points, but I was enjoying it. You nearly lost the final to Arundhati. Arundhati (Pantwane) was having a good tournament, and she had even beaten me in the team event. She was going for her shots and not getting tired. I wasn’t thinking too much. Despite losing the first game I knew she was nervous while finishing it off; she was making errors, and I knew if I was patient she would have it tough. In the second game I was leading 15-9, but it became 15-all and she had two match points. But somewhere I knew she was nervous. It was only at 20-all that I started attacking, banging the shuttle down. I usually get defensive in such situations, and wait for the opponent to make the mistake, but I have learnt from experience. I’d been playing the wrong kind of game. At 20-all I started playing freely, and I equalized at one-game all. Did the break in the third game help you? In the third game I started a bit slow, and she went ahead 7-3. There was a break as (actor-politician) Raj Babbar entered the hall, and play was stopped for ten minutes. I kept thinking I had to change my game, and then I started attacking again, and keeping the shuttle down. She didn’t know what to do, because I’d been defending right through, and she started cracking. I kept thinking of the next point, and even at match point, I was totally blank, like a machine. I didn’t believe I’d won, and cried for a long time. It was my first tournament win in two years. What did winning the national championship mean to you?

I’m also working with Hemant (Hardikar) Sir; he’s seen me through my best and worst times. He’s never offered me sympathy, and that has helped. Would you say players like Arundhati and Thulasi are playing a different style of badminton compared to their seniors? Yes, they’re faster, more attacking players. That’s the way they should play too. But they shouldn’t get carried away, because the international circuit is brutal.

Hard work is paying off: Rupesh Kumar The winner of an unprecedented nine straight national men’s doubles championships tells GUTS he wishes for better recognition in India Winning the national title for the ninth straight time means a lot. The nationals is not like other tournaments -- the field is tough, and it’s a great feeling to win it. It means I’ve been able to prove myself for such a long time. However, it hurts when your achievements are not recognised in the country. We (Rupesh and Sanave Thomas) have won a Grand Prix event, we’ve reached the final of a GP Gold tournament, but there wasn’t even a press conference. Personally, though, we are satisfied. The changing game: The game has changed. When I played with Markose (Bristow), the game was slow, we didn’t need to jump so often, we could afford to lift the shuttle, and there were lesser interceptions. We could lift without fear. Now you just cannot afford that. That was the way it was played internationally, and India is adapting to that system. Earlier, we played toss-drop, and that didn’t benefit us at all.

I’ve won the other age-group nationals (U-13, U-16, U-19). The nationals is always important. You always want to be called a national champion. I badly needed to win something. For my parents especially – they still can’t believe it, because they’re so used to seeing me injured.

We have reduced the gap between India and the international level. Earlier, players were relaxed. Now, the quantity (time) of matches has come down, but the quality is higher. You can never relax, even at 10-1. In a split second the lead might be lost.

What role did your personal trainer play?

Sanave and I are able to do well because we are a good combination. We are different players, but we combine well. We have that understanding, especially at tense moments. We support each other. We’ve never had a problem between ourselves on court, and that helps us remain positive.

I started working with a personal trainer, Darshan Wagh, six months ago, and it’s working out well. Earlier, I never knew the answers. Darshan knows everything about me – my history of injuries, and he keeps coming up with new ideas, and since he’s young, he’s enthusiastic, and that pushes me too.

Combining with Sanave:

A lot of our success is in the mind. Work ethic is important -- thank God we have had

no major injuries. What we have been doing from the time we were 20 is now helping. The game is played now at a high pace, and the work load on a doubles player is very high. Matchplay: In a match, you can only play 50 per cent of what you do in practice. Under pressure, you can’t play all your strokes. At the 2006 camp in Indonesia, before Melbourne Commonwealth Games, I remember it was so tough. We were training with the Indonesians and their returns were so quick – you can’t imagine the kind of strokes they were playing. But the same pairs, when we played them in matches, we realized they could not play the same level. Under pressure, their game comes down by 50%. The international level is something else. In India, all said and done, our strokes are only within a certain range. The juniors have to get international exposure, or we should invite senior or semi-retired players to train with us here. The game in India: The lack of numbers in Indian doubles is worrying. The juniors will take at least twothree years to develop; at the moment, they are in a shell. I don’t think about winning national title No.10. It’s the same feeling, winning No.1 or No.10. There is no recognition; sometimes you feel there is no use. Personally, I’m very satisfied, that I’ve done my best. I’ve won a Grand Prix title, nine nationals, which no one else has done. I always thought recognition will come with time. We kept winning titles, but still there hasn’t been recognition. Whatever I have is because of badminton. I have a good job with ONGC, and they have supported me. The payoff from the game is not proportional to the work we put in, and that has to change.

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Jan 2011

Chong Wei, Lin Dan share the spoils The new Super Series title kicked off in 2011 with Lee Chong Wei taking his home event, and Lin Dan winning the first Premier Super Series – the Korea Open A seventh title in eight years -- including a fourth successive one. Lee Chong Wei’s incestuous affair with his home Malaysia Open Super Series continued with a straight games demolition of Indonesian great Taufik Hidayat on Sunday; the performance being so authoritative that one question was uppermost on everybody’s minds -why doesn’t the world No.1 replicate the same form at major events like the World Championships, the Olympics or the Asian Games? Chong Wei has won just about every other big tournament, and his form over the last couple of years has been outstanding. In the final on Sunday, he was in such control that he allowed his opponent to get nine points in a row just to make it appear like a contest. From 8-18, Taufik made it 17-18, and then Chong Wei shut the door. It was, as Taufik said later, Chong Wei’s “joke” on him. “The gap was too wide, and he was too good, I think he was playing around with me, because he’s my good friend,” Taufik said. “He was very fast today. He’s usually fast in the Super Series. I don’t know why he can’t do the same at the Worlds or the Olympics.” Chong Wei’s title was the only one out of five that went to a non-Chinese. Three of those were all-China finals. Taufik’s game is a kind of sorcery that hypnotises most opponents, but Chong Wei was too fast to fall under his spell. The point of the match was at 3-all in the

first game that went to some 30 strokes; each tried to deceive and open up a margin; eventually it was Chong Wei who succeeded. The Malaysian was in position for each of Taufik’s strokes, leaving the Indonesian unsettled; the pace was killing the Indonesian, and even his famous deception did not fool Chong Wei. Indeed, it seemed that the world No.1 had borrowed a couple of tricks from Taufik, as he mastered the net and sent him the wrong way with his “double” shots from near the net. In other matches of the day, world no.2 Wang Shixian bested compatriot and no.3 Wang Yihan in straight games, while the Danish combination of Jonas Rasmussen/ ConradsPetersen were outclassed by Chinese pair Chai Biao/ Guo Zhendong. The four titles might set an early precedent for the rest of the year, and the world might have no respite from more domination by China. RESULTS: MS: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Taufik Hidayat (Ina) 21-8 21-17 WS: Wang Shixian (Chn) bt Wang Yihan (Chn) 21-18 21-14 MD: Biao/ Zhendong (Chn) bt Conrads/Rasmussen (Den) 21-16 21-14 WD: Qing Tian/ Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Wang X/ Yu Yang (Chn) 21-12 6-21 21-17 MXD: He Hanbin/ Ma Jin (Chn) bt Tao Jiaming/ Qing Tian (Chn) 21-13 13-21 21-16

Chong Wei falls short yet again Seoul (Korea): Three-time world champion Lin Dan’s stranglehold over the men’s

game in badminton continued with a win over world No.1 Lee Chong Wei in the final of the Korea Open Premier Super Series on Sunday. Chong Wei, who just last week had won his home Malaysia Open for the seventh time, forced the match into three games but could not get past his nemesis, falling 21-19 14-21 21-16 in an hour and 14 minutes. China won four of five titles, the only exception being the men’s doubles, where home team Lee Yong Dae/ Jung Jae Sung had it surprisingly easy over Danish pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-6 21-13. The other three matches were all-China affairs. Wang Yihan won the women’s singles over Wang Shixian 21-14 21-18; Wang Xiaoli/ Yu Yang won the women’s doubles over Qing Tian/ Zhao Yunlei 21-18 19-21 21-4, while Zhang Nan/ Zhao Yunlei overcame Tao Jiaming/ Qing Tian 21-17 13-21 21-19 in the mixed.

Jan 2011

Author of new circuit, now a forgotten figure Punch Gunalan, former Deputy President of BWF who introduced most of the changes of contemporary world badminton, lives outside the limelight, writes Dev S Sukumar from Kuala Lumpur you see today; that’s something I brought about. “

PUNCH Gunalan looks tired. Perhaps it’s the heart operation he’d had, or perhaps it’s just age -- he will soon be 67 -- but the man who once ruled badminton looks careworn and able to speak only in a near-whisper.

It’s hard to say how Punch will be remembered. In that sense, it’s ironical that the man who cared little for the game’s history might now be judged more for what he did wrong than what he did right.

“Let God decide if I have to come back into badminton,” he says, but you sense he doesn’t have it in him to fight any more. Punch is the man who changed the face of badminton. Nearly every major change -- the scoring system, the Super Series circuit, the Badminton World Federation headquarters, and even the very name of the ruling organisation -- was authored by the former Deputy President, who was so powerful he could not be beaten in an election, and had to be ousted in a coup. For over a century badminton was defined by its scoring system of 15 points over a best-of-three-game format, but Punch sensed its incompatibility with TV audiences and attention spans. After a short-lived experiment with a 7x5 system, Punch enforced the new 15x3 system, which dramatically reduced the length of matches, bringing it to an average of 30 minutes each, which better suited TV companies. The other unpopular change he made was to convert the name of the ruling association from International Badminton Federation to Badminton World Federation, and shift its headquarters from the UK to Kuala Lumpur. He seemed to care little for the traditions or history of the game, once dismissing the All England as “just another major tournament”. But Punch, in his youth a brilliant attacking player who came close to winning the All England title over the incomparable Rudy Hartono, was a controversial figure. His power at the helm of the Badminton World Federation stemmed from his ability to cobble together alliances in a manner that was often questioned on ethical grounds, and he had powerful enemies. Indeed,

Rupesh kumar reads GUTS. Do you?

Check your Badminton Quotient at the 2007 World Championships in his home territory of Kuala Lumpur, the BWF President, Kang Young Joong, even had a press conference in which he accused his deputy of corrupt deals. Punch recovered, but briefly. He was outmanoevred in the only way possible -- at the next AGM in Jakarta, where he was about to be arrested by the army on charges of corruption. Having got wind of it, he escaped in the nick of time. His health soon gave way, and he had three blocks in his heart that required an operation. That effectively ended his reign in the BWF, and he has maintained a low profile since then, venturing into a business that deals with stem cell products. “I’ve been very quiet, I want to recover,” he admits, over lunch at Kuala Lumpur. “I’m well now. I often think about badminton... I got into so many problems. Why? We changed so many things; we changed the scoring system, we gave everybody a chance. The Chinese supported me, but many others didn’t. I changed the name of the federation to BWF because once I went to Africa and they thought IBF was a boxing association! I made a lot of enemies because of these changes... but we made a lot of geniune changes. The Super Series circuit

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Lin Dan Winners: Vinay, Raghavendra, Parvathi, Rahul

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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Jan 2011

Jwala Gutta calls for better domestic calendar Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jwala Gutta insisted that the national federation should restructure the domestic circuit. “A strong domestic circuit is important for the sport to flourish in the country and the BAI needs to do something about it,” Jwala said. “There are not enough structured tournaments and often the tournaments are packed at the year-end. These tournaments have to be spaced out right through the year.”-The Telegraph

Probation for Indonesian shuttlers The Indonesian Badminton Association will impose a two-month probation on the 10 best men’s singles and eight women’s singles shuttlers that passed the national selection for the singles sectors. “The chosen 10 men’s singles and eight women’s singles shuttlers will train for the next two months here under the observation of (national singles head coach) Li Mao,” said head of the national selection committee Djendjen Djaenanasri. -The Jakarta Post

Gopi condoles Pt Bhimsen’s death

Honour for Ouseph

Among the legions of fans renowned Hindustani vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi acquired over the decades is the Indian badminton chief coach Pullela Gopichand. (Pt Joshi, considered one of the greatestever exponents of Hindustani music, passed away on Jan 24.) “Panditji ’s passing away

Rajiv Ouseph has been awarded the 2010 Olympic Athlete of the Year trophy for badminton. The award was introduced in 2005, to mark the BOA’s centenary year and the success of London being awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. –Surrey Comet

around the world has left a void,” said Gopichand. “He was a jewel of Indian classical music, and today this jewel is not with us.” -The Times of India

Andy Wood quits Andy Wood resigned as GB badminton head coach with the Olympic Games in London only 19 months away. Wood led the GB badminton team at the last three Olympics, overseeing an era of unprecedented success, but will not guide them on home soil in 2012. His decision comes 11 days after GB badminton’s budget for the run-up to 2012 was cut by £540,000 by UK Sport. -BBC

End of an era A group of badminton players in their 70s must find somewhere else to play after being forced to leave the Wensum Lodge sports hall. The hall is part of the adult education centre on King Street, Norwich. It is one of the first victims of council cutbacks, following the coalition government’s spending review. “It’s very sad,” said Sheila Edwards. “I have only been coming for 25 years. Some started when they had children in pushchairs and some of us are in our 70s now.” The group began when people who had taken adult education badminton classes at Wensum Lodge stayed on to form a weekly group.” –Norwich Evening News

Opening Shortly at

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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

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Tournament Calendar 2011

..................................................................... January, 2011 05-09 Jan SuperseriesFinals 2010 25-30 Jan VICTOR- Korea Open 18-23 Jan Proton Malaysia Open February, 2011 15-20 Feb European Championships March, 2011 01-06 Mar YONEX German Open 08-13 Mar Yonex All England Open 15-20 Mar WILSON Swiss Open April, 2011 05-10 Apr YONEX Australian Open 26 Apr-1 May India Open May, 2011 03-08 May Malaysia Open 22-29 May Sudirman Cup 2011 June, 2011 07-12 Jun SCG Thailand Open 14-19 Jun Singapore Open 25-30 Jun BAI-All India Junior 28 Jun-03 Jul Russian Open July, 2011 01-06 Jul BAI -All India Junior 12-17 Jul Yonex/OCBC US Open 19-24 Jul Canadian Open Grand Prix 19-24 Jul BAI-All India Sub-Junior

Superseries Taipei, TPE Superseries Premier Seoul, KOR Superseries Kuala Lumpur, MAS Mixed Team

Amsterdam, NED

Grand Prix Gold Germany Superseries Premier Birmingham, ENG Grand Prix Gold Basel,SUI Grand Prix Gold Superseries

Melbourne, AUS New Delhi

Grand Prix Gold BWF Tournament

AlorSetar, MAS Qing Dao, CHN

Grand Prix Gold Superseries Major Ranking Grand Prix

Bangkok, THA Singapore City, SIN Mandya/Davangare, IND Vladivostok, RUS

Major Ranking Grand Prix Gold Grand Prix Major Ranking

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..................................................................... August, 2011 02-07 Aug BAI-All India Junior 08-14 Aug World Championship 09-14 Aug BAI-All India Junior 15-31 Aug BAI State Championship 21-27 Aug World Sr. Championships 23-28 Aug YONEX SUNRISE Vietnam September,2011 01-05 Sep BAI-All India Senior 06-11 Sep Chinese Taipei 07-11 Sep BAI-All India Senior 13-18 Sep China Open Masters 20-25 Sep YONEX Japan Open 27 Sep-2 Oct Indonesia Open October, 2011 01-08 Oct BAI-Sub-Junior Nationals 11-16 Oct Dutch Open Grand Prix 12-16 Oct BAI-All India Senior 15-20 Oct XVI Pan American Games 18-23 Oct Denmark Open 19-23 Oct BAI-All India Senior 25-30 Oct French Open 28 Oct-6 Nov World Jr. Championships November, 2011 01-06 Nov Bitburger Open Grand 06-13 Nov BAI- Junior Nationals 12-19 Nov Sea Games XXIV 2011 15-20 Nov Hong Kong Open 22-27 Nov China Open 29 Nov-4 Dec Macau Open Grand Prix December, 2011 06-11 Dec Korea Grand Prix Gold 13-18 Dec India Grand Prix 2011 14-18 Dec World Superseries Finals 21-25 Dec Indian Open

Major Ranking BWF events Major Ranking Senior Event Grand Prix

Hyderabad, India London, England Chandigarh, India Respective States, IND Richmond, CAN Ho Chi Minh City, VIE

Major Ranking Grand Prix Major Ranking Superseries Superseries Grand Prix Gold

Bangalore, India Taipei, TPE Kolkota, India Changzhou, CHN Tokyo,JPN Indonesia

Championship Dharmasala, India Grand Prix NED Major Ranking Bangalore, India Grand Prix status Guadalajara, MEX Superseries Premier Odense, DEN Major Ranking Atul, India Superseries Paris, FRA BWF events Taipei, TPE Grand Prix Gold Saarbruecken, GER Championship Jaipur, India Multi Events Jakarta, INA Superseries HKG Superseries Premier CHN Grand Prix Gold Macau, MAC Grand Prix Gold Grand Prix Superseries Intl. Challenge

KOR IND TBC IND