Famed Indian badminton sensation Dinesh Khanna believes that Indian women players have a promising chance of clinching the medals in 2016 Rio Olympics as compared to the men. Khanna, who became the first Indian to win the Asian badminton championship in 1965, tells Karthik Raman why he thinks the female section of the country stand a better chance in Brazil next year and also explains his views on the mini slump experienced by Kidambi Srikanth of late. Also, the Arjuna awardee shares his perspective on the level of badminton in the country currently to the days when he took court with wooden rackets.
What do you expect from badminton in general during the Rio OlympicsIJ
As far as men are concerned, Chen long was probably having an edge over everyone. But, now lee Chong Wei has come back very strongly. I feel these two players are definitely cut above the rest. So the fight in my mind is for the third place.
For that one medal, there are 10-15 players competing, who I believe can beat each other on any given day. However, it depends on the form that day and how they handle the pressure. When an Olympic medal is at stake and then the level of pressure is more than a normal tournament. So your temperament and nerves will be tested.
Among the many competitors for the third medal, how much of a chance does an Indian player haveIJ
They have a proportionately 20 or 25 per cent chance.
So in which department do you think India have a good chance of winning an Olympic medalIJ
India has a better chance in the women’s section because in female we have Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu. They have beaten almost every player in the world. Definitely both these girls stand a chance for a medal. But if it transforms into a medal in the Olympics or not really depend on how they handle the pressure and perform next year in Brazil.
India had a poor outing in the recently concluded Hong Kong Open, when top ranked Indian shuttlers — Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu, Ajay Jayaram, HS Prannoy and women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa all lost in the first round itself. Do you think it was a wake-up call for the country’s badminton playersIJ
I was surprised how Sindhu lost. She had beaten [Carolina] Marin in Denmark Open, thus I was expecting a good outing from her. So I was disappointed with it. On the other hand Srikanth was unlucky to lose against Tian Houwei. He lost third game in extra points and Tian went on to reach the final. So if Srikanth had beaten him, maybe the Indian could have also gone that far.
Srikanth — the highest ranked Indian male shuttler at ninth — has been struggling lately with early exits. Do you think the favourite tag has got the better of himIJ
Srikanth has been carrying the burden for a while now. When he plays against lower ranked players, he tries too hard to win. Besides, those defeats have been in close matches only. So let’s hope he doesn’t lose his confidence because of those results. He should play like he normally plays and shouldn’t take that extra pressure or stress on himself. Once you lose a number of matches, you will start losing confidence. He should not and should get back again. And I am sure he has the game in him and he is capable of doing much better.
How do you see the game today compared to your playing daysIJ
The game has improved a lot nowadays compared to when we were playing. Today it is totally professional. Now players can concentrate entirely on the game. But, during our days we had to do other work and play badminton at the same time.
What aspect of the change in the modern game do you like the mostIJ
The scoring systems. Earlier, we could only score a point on self serve. Sometimes you could get stuck at a score for a long time. But, now the score keeps on moving, thus the game has become relatively shorter and is played at a faster pace, which makes it really appealing. Besides, training methods have also improved a lot and it resulted in the records being broken regularly. In our time we used to play with the heavier wooden rackets but now everyone has the luxury of lighter rackets. Also there is a huge difference in the women’s category. It came after the Chinese entry. The standard of China was absolutely different. They brought different level of fitness and training. Thus the rest of the world had to catch up with them.
Do you think any other steps need to be taken to improve the reach of badminton at the grassroots level or are you satisfied with the current situationIJ
The present scenario is fairly good. Maybe, there could be few more academies. Thereby the players could be training in the right line from the young age, which is very important.
Any message for aspiring young badminton playersIJ
In order to make it big, they have to be fully dedicated. The youngsters should have the temperament to take both defeat and victory in their stride and work on their weaknesses. They should also be prepared to sacrifice certain things which other kids of the same age might enjoy, like video games. Commitment is the most important thing.