The Canada Open Grand Prix came to an end on Sunday night nd it was a very successful event for the Indian contingent with not one but three from the team ,returning with trophies.
There, were, however, a few other takeaways from that week long competition. Here’s a look:
1.Sai Praneeth is certainly for the future
While a large part of the Indian badminton community are eagerly awaiting the start of Rio 2016 where the best players will be back in action, the ‘fringe‘ players, if I may call them aren’t to be left behind in the meantime who are putting up a commendable showing on the international circuit.
Among the impressive ones in that list is Sai Praneeth, who has had an upbeat 2016, having beaten one of the greats of the game-Lee Chong Wei at the All England Championships and in a show of pure dominance, defeated Lee Hyun II to lift the Canada Open title on Sunday.
The youngster has been on the circuit for a while now and will now look to take the leap to the next level.
2.Ajay Jayaram makes a good comeback
After enduring a tough time at the Thomas and Uber Cup, Ajay Jayaram announced that he would be taking a break and would miss both the Indonesia as well as the Australian Superseries events that followed.
That downtime seems to have done him wonders as he came back with a good showing in Calgary, reaching the semifinal stage of the competition. The 28-year-old had a good second half in 2015 and will hope to produce similar kind of results this year as well in the upcoming tournaments.
3.Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy show further promise
When the badminton team for Rio 2016 was announced, one of the surprises was the inclusion of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy, along with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa in the doubles category. While the Indian pairing had had a good 2015 where they did well in the Grand Prix events, there were still largely untested in the major events.
On Sunday, the duo clinched yet another Grand Prix event, this time in Calgary and will hope that this win would serve as a boost for them with just over a month left for Rio 2016.
4.Should Jwala and Ashwini have given a walkover?
Having entered the competition as the defending champions, one would have expected Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa to have put up a good fight and try and retain their title.
However, after having attained a bye in the first round, the duo decided to give a walkover in the quarterfinal and while they surely would have given much thought before coming to such a decision, it didn’t quite seem right, especially when they had an opportunity to get some confidence under their belt, by possibly winning the competition.
5.Women’s Singles a disappointment
If there was one area of disappointment for the Indians at the event, it was the Women’s Singles,where both Ruthvika Gadde, as well as Tanvi Lad, failed to make it past the quarterfinal stage of the competition.
They will look to better that showing in the US Open Grand Prix Gold starting later this week.
