HYDERABAD: Below the top echelons of world badminton, there are players who shell out commendable performances every now and then. Sourabh Verma is one of them. Playing the final of the Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Open (BWF Tour Super 100) on Sunday, the 26-year-old played a marathon 72-minute match against China’s Sun Fei Xiang to emerge champion.
Though the 21-12, 17-21, 21-14 win or the title is not something to go crazy about — considering it falls in a category way down the ladder of hierarchy, where most of the top-30 players in the world do not participate — it gives an indication of the bench strength India possess at the moment. The Pullela Gopichand Academy trainee was pleased with the fact that he beat three Japanese players on way to the title. “I am very happy with the way I played this week. I played three Japanese and these players have a similar kind of style. Most like to attack and the little differences in their style is something you have to figure out on the court. So it was nice to beat them,” Sourabh, the World No 38, told a news agency.
Just last month, Sourabh had produced the same result at the Hyderabad Open (Super 100). The Madhya Pradesh shuttler had won in a field where many better-rated players such as B Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy had bitten the dust in the initial stages. Last year too, he had grabbed two Super 100 titles.
Gopichand Academy head coach Rajendra Kumar, who has been looking after the trainees since 2004 when the academy became operational for the first time, said evolving training routines are behind the shuttler’s success.
“Gopichand sir keeps changing training routines every three to four months. It is done to counter the strategies of opponents, who keep close tabs on Indian players and get updated with the latest developments in world badminton.
“Someone can take advantage of you if you are not changing things regularly. He has benefitted from that. He has also worked on fitness. He used to struggle a lot with small injuries every now and then. He was consistent before as well, but fitness issues used to hold him back. The confidence level has also increased,” Rajendra told this daily.
“The training is designed in a way that all top players train together at the same time. Teamwork always helps. Then we take care of technique correction, and shot selection personally,” he added.
Verma is expected to take part in the upcoming Korea Open, which is one of the stronger tournaments on the circuit. “I will head back home and depending on the condition of my body and the time required to recover, I will take a call if I want to go to Korea or not,” said Sourabh, whose younger brother Sameer is World No 16.