CHENNAI: Anyone who has a brother or sister can explain how everything they do is locked into a lifelong competition with their sibling. Usually, the scale of measurement goes like this. If there is a younger sibling, he or she is expected to better or at least match the elder one in terms of achievements. There are other cases too, where the elder one is lagging. In the second case, even the smallest of achievements by the younger one is hailed. In sports too, the situation exists. Two examples are seen at the ongoing Asian Squash Championships.
Sunayna Kuruvilla, as is well known, is the first cousin of Dipika Pallikal. Dipika's success is one of the best the country has seen. Though it's not fair to compare her with the 17-year-old, that is the case often. After a surprise start to the tournament, where she beat 12th seed Choe Yura, Sunayna lost to Tong Tsz Wing of Malaysia on Thursday. Naturally, the same questions haunted her again. "These comparisons are going to be there as long as I am playing. But we are two different individuals. But I don't take that seriously. I am just starting and Dipika has already established herself. I am also very honoured to be mentioned along with her," she said.
A little to our east, in Malaysia, a similar story is doing the rounds. After Delia Arnold, former World No 12, announced her retirement in January, the only senior player left in the squad was Nicol David. Understandably, Delia's sister Rachel is under a lot of pressure. The 21-year-old was looking to reach the quarterfinals when she came to Chennai. But her run ended in the second round. "We have a healthy relationship. But, you need to have an identity. I don't want to be referred to as Delia's sister. But I just prefer to ignore the comparisons and enjoy my game. I hope I can better her records someday," said Rachel.
vimalsankar@newindianexpress.com