Decent performance by Indian shuttlers in CWG: Coach

Bangalore, Mar 29 (UNI) National Badminton Coach Vimal Kumar is pleased with the performance of the Indian shuttlers in the just-concluded Commonwealth Games.

''Performance wise, I think it was quiet decent...I cannot say it was extraordinary. Infact, winning a bronze medal in the team championship was quite satisfactory as we had not done well in the new format, that is Sudirman Cup format,'' he told UNI here today.

Lauding the team's performance, Vimal said that despite losing to England badly in the first match, the team was quick to regain its tempo and create a major upset by defeating Singapore in the second and maintaining consistency to beat New Zealand. The credit went to teenage sensation Saina Nehwal, National Champion Anup Sridhar, Saina Thomas and Rupesh Kumar.

National Champion Aparna Popat and Chetan Anand were withdrawn after the first match as they could not cope with the drift in the Hall. ''As they were finding it difficult to play, we decided to field Anup and Saina and that worked well and won the matches.'' However, Chetan picked up and won a bronze in the individual event by putting up a creditable performance, he said.

Chetan became the fourth Indian to win a medal in the individual event of the Commonwealth Games, after former All England Champion Prakash Padukone, Syed Modi (both gold) and P Gopichand (bronze).

Expressing disappointment over the performance of women shuttlers, the Coach said ''I would have been happy if we had played well in the women's section as Aparna, Saina and Trupti Murghunde could have fetched us a medal. After Saina's good performance in the team event, everybody expected her to win. However, overall it was a good performance by Saina.'' To a question, he said nine time National Champion Aparna did not have any health problem which had forced her to withdraw from Uber Cup qualifying rounds before the Games.

Vimal was all praise for the Union Sports Ministry for the facilities provided, including permitting the shuttlers to have training for the first time in Indonesia.

Stating that there was good scope for improvement, he said ''we should never be satisfied. We have good youngsters and have quite positive signs.'' He said the men's team, which had qualified for the finals of the Thomas Cup scheduled to be held in Japan from April 27, would undergo a 15-day camp from April ten to 24. Bangalore had been suggested as the venue, but the final decision would be taken by the Badminton Association of India. The team was expected to be made known tomorrow, the last date for announcing the team.

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