Something interesting happened at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall on Friday. The first Indians in action were the women’s doubles pair of Aparna Balan and KP Shruthi. The match went on court three towards the far end of the venue, with fans barely noticing that an Indian pair was playing.
Sometime later, the more experienced and popular duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy were warming up ahead of their quarterfinal encounter against the Indonesian pair of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu. The crowd slowly started gathering around to support the Indians with occasional shouts of ‘Come on Ashwini’ and ‘Come on Sikki’ coming from the stands.
Halfway through that game, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth arrived at court 3. And like a swarm of bees rushing towards a new hive, the majority of the crowd was on its feet to catch a glimpse of the singles players. All of a sudden, it seemed like cheering for Ashwini and Sikki was just to kill time. Unfortunately for the fans, the security at the venue denied them the prime seat they were targetting.
The behaviour of the fans on Friday is a fair reflection of India’s badminton culture.
Doubles has always taken the back seat even among coaches and officials until the last two or three years. It was Ashwini and Jwala Gutta’s bronze at the World Championships in 2011 that rejuvenated the team event in the country. Eight years later, not much has changed in the category as far as trophies and medals are concerned. “There is no comparison with singles or other countries,” said Ashwini. “Other nations have been doing well in doubles for the last 50-60 years. So we can’t really compare the stats. Prakash and Gopi sir did well in singles but what is the history of doubles in India?”
“Doubles in India is just picking up. The last 10 years is when there has been a rise. Before that, there was no emphasis on doubles. It was just a secondary event. We both were singles players in the beginning and played doubles only as a second event. But things have changed. We are getting better. But there is so much more to work on to get those wins. We have to work on a lot of aspects and the finer details of the game which we are doing right now,” the 29-year-old added.
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To say there has been no improvement at all would be unfair as well. Former Malaysian doubles coach Tan Kim Her played a huge role in bringing up the men’s pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. In 2016, they were ranked outside 200 in the world and now they are in the 20s. A Commonwealth Games medal, a quarterfinal appearance in the China Open and a semifinal berth in the French Open — both Super 750-level events — is not an easy task within such a short time-span. But all this promise won’t matter if there is no trophy to show for.
And Satwik feels that to reach the final step, there needs to be a lot more quality in training. With India having very few top-rated doubles players, there is no surprise element. Sparring with the same players on a regular basis is stagnating their growth. “I think it’s more about practice. In singles, there are more top-ranked players. When players like Srikanth, Prannoy or Sameer keep playing with juniors, it helps them a lot. We need someone good for sparring. When we started, we had Manu Attri and B Sumeet Reddy. Now we are at their level. Now we need more top-ranked players to practice with,” Satwik told this newspaper.
And the lack of experience and playing against different styles acts as a roadblock in crucial tournaments. “After a certain stage, there is so much pressure. One-off victories happen with the momentum and all. Then we don’t know how to handle that situation. In doubles, it’s a different style. Different players have different styles. So it’s very difficult to adjust so quickly unless we have more practice. I think in countries like Indonesia, they have several top players. So they will, of course, get better. Every day, they play against different styles, helping them be more confident,” the 18-year-old opined.
Satwik’s partner Chirag too agreed to that. Doubles games are far more tactical in comparison. There are a lot of mind games involved. With very less place to move around, there is a need to be more sharp and quick on the court. While players often suggest that the physical aspect comes second to tactics in doubles, it does make a difference. The brain and body must be in sync. “To create an opening is very difficult unless you play a lot. By the time we understand our opponents, the game is almost over. You have to be clever since the start,” Chirag pointed out. That has been missing in Indian players according to the 21-year-old.
Former coach Tan Kim Her had been focusing on these aspects before his resignation. But even then, the lack of a proper system over the years has hindered progress. The state of doubles players would have been much better had they instilled a proper regime. And if there is one thing that Chirag would like to change about the current training routines, it is having a more compact group. “I feel it doesn’t help when players who are at different levels train together. For the medal prospects, there has to be a specific coach. Reduce the number of players to a smaller group. And I am not asking to ignore the upcoming players. It’s just that some of us need to go about things in a different way now that we have reached a certain level.”
The Badminton Association of India has been very quick to replace Kim Her. And within a very short time, the Indonesian duo of Flandy Limpele and Namrih Suroto has been praised by players for their methods in training. Off-court training is as important as on-court training and that is something the Indonesians are very particular about. While they haven’t had a proper training session yet, with Satwik recovering from injury, he has already had a word with him and is excited to return to the court fully fit. “I already talked with him. It’s more about off-court training with them. They are very particular about the fitness aspect of the game. We do around 20 minutes of shadow practice alone while it was only 10 under Tan. The focus on movement and agility is also a priority to them,” Satwik said.
Ashwini too said that they have been benefiting from the new training regime even though they haven’t been following it for long. She also felt that their run in the India Open had a lot to do with the new methods. While there is plenty of work to be done, the senior player is confident that it is heading in the right direction. “There is a lot of difference in just two week’s time. They have tried a different defence programme and it’s pretty good. We are also focussing on longer rallies and doing a defence workout for about 30 minutes. In the first 15 minutes the shuttle comes only to you and we are not just trying to get all-out points. In the past, it was that way,” Ashwini said.
Only time will tell whether or not the Indonesians can turn the quarterfinal and semifinal appearances into trophies. But at the moment, the players are confident that it won’t be long before an Indian doubles pair wins something. “I feel it will happen within a year,” Satwik concluded.