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Indian doubles star Jwala Gutta announced yesterday that she would get back to competitive badminton at the All England Open in March, following a ‘break’ since August 2012.
Gutta last played competitively at the London Olympics in August 2012. Her decision to take the sabbatical saw a lean period for Indian paired events, with mixed doubles partner V Diju too opting out of international badminton, and doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa combining with Pradyna Gadre.
Jwala, however, will participate only in the doubles at the All England. V Diju has already announced he will partner Indonesian player Vita Marissa – a former World Championships bronze medallist. Ashwini is currently training on her own in Bangalore with coach Tom John, but was expected to report for a camp in Hyderabad before the Malaysia Open Superseries.
“I just needed a break from everything,” Jwala was quoted as saying by Reuters. “The pressure was taking its toll on me. In the run up to the Olympics I couldn’t sleep properly, I couldn’t eat properly. I took a break and it has done me good. I’m feeling fresh now, and have resumed training. Although doubles is a team sport, the focus is invariably on me. I want to take it slowly, I am looking at women’s doubles for now, the pressure of playing both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles will be a little too much. I’m expecting to play on till the 2016 Rio Olympics, and obviously I’d like to continue playing for as long as I can.”
Diju, who got married after the Olympics, hasn’t been seen in international action for a while, but said he had contacted Vita Marissa of Indonesia. “Although we haven’t trained together, it will be okay because we are used to playing international badminton,” said Diju, who partnered Rupesh Kumar to win the PSPB Open event recently in Bangalore. If the combination takes off, it will be a rare instance of players from two countries partnering in international doubles. Although the trend is relatively more popular in Europe, it’s almost unheard-of in Asia. (It may be recalled, though, that Saina Nehwal used to partner Canadian Anna Rice in the early part of her career.)
