Interview with Anand Pawar: "My ideal aim would be to win a Grand Prix or a Grand Prix Gold event"

“Winning big tournaments would take care of your rankings”- Anand Pawar

Currently ranked 44th in the world, Anand Pawar first made an impression in 2008, when he reached the finals of Tata Open All India Ranking tournament in Mumbai and then clinched three international tournaments- Austrian International, Portugal International and the Hungarian International, the very same year.

In 2012, the 28-year-old Mumbai-based shuttler also clinched the Scottish Open title, beating Kazumasa Sakai of Japan in three games in the finals. Following that, though, Pawar had to endure a slightly difficult phase but that didn't buckle him and he continued to put in good performances on the court.

Sportskeeda caught up with Pawar, who is presently training at his father and former badminton player Uday Pawar's academy and asked him about his recent quarterfinal finish at the Sri Lankan Open, his thoughts about rankings and who he thinks to be the best male player in singles today.

1.When did you first develop an interest in the sport?

A: Actually at quite a young age because both my parents were playing badminton. My father was still playing the sport competitively and my mother had quit when I was born. But both of them have played for India at a very high level. So I think I picked up from both of them.

2.Growing up whom did you consider your role model?

A: When I started playing it was definitely my father and then after he quit playing and once I started playing a bit more competitively, I used to look up to Peter Gade of Denmark. He was one of my favorite players.

3. Recently, Saina Nehwal lost to Wang Shixian of China twice in 2 weeks in separate tournaments. As a player, when you face the same opponent for a second time in such a short span, how much of an impact does it have from the previous match? How much do you carry forward from the previous match, the loss from that match or do you take it a fresh beginning?

A: I think it depends from player to player.Definitely if you are playing the same opponent in two consecutive weeks, surely you are going to have the previous match in you head because you are not going to stop thinking about it so soon.

It isn’t easy to do that. You are going to take a lot of things from the previous match especially if you have lost it.

You are definitely going to try and do something different because whatever you have done in the previous match hasn’t worked and at this level, the opponents are smart enough to expect something new, so they are also ready with their Plan A, B and C.

It also depends on who adapts to the conditions better in both the tournaments.Presently Badminton is all about who adapts to the conditions better.

4.You reached the quarter-finals of the Sri Lankan Open last week, but we saw two Indians reach the finals in Sameer Verma and Sai Praneeth. How impressed were you with Sai Praneeth's victory in the final?

A: He was the top seed in the tournament and it’s good that an Indian won. In the finals, if I would’ve had to pick a winner, I would’ve probably picked Sai(Praneeth) as the favorite to win. He also won the final pretty convincingly.

Also, I think he got a walkover in the quarterfinals or semifinals stage which also probably made a difference as he was fresher as compared to others. So everything worked out for the best for him.

5.You are currently ranked 43rd in the world. Do you keep a constant check on the rankings or do you feel your performances will take care of the rankings? Are they always at the back of your head?

A: Ya we do check the rankings. If you ask any player, they will be checking the rankings. If your are ranked in the top 50 or top 100, you do keep a check on the rankings.

Ya(always at the back of your head). But I think getting obsessed with the rankings isn't very healthy because a lot of people are so obsessed with it, they are making calculations in their head and that’s pretty harmful for a badminton player.

I think focussing on your results and getting good results, your rankings will shoot up because of that. But all said and done, I know myself and all the other players also check their rankings every week and do the calculations, but it has to be done in a limit.

Maybe 10% of your time can be spent on thinking about your rankings while the rest 90% would be trying to get better results, which, in turn, would improve your rankings.

6.We are half way into the year 2015. What are your goals for the remainder of the year?

A: This is the Olympic qualification year and so the tournaments are twice as tough as they would be in any other year, so I am playing a lot of Grand Prix(GP) and Grand Prix Gold(GPG) events coming up now and the ideal aim would be to win a GP event eventually at some point in my career.That would be a nice title to have.

I have won a lot of challenge and series titles so the next step would probably be to win a GP or GPG, but I am not really setting big targets as such, I just want to take it maybe 2-3 months at a time and take it from there.

But eventually winning a GP or GPG tournament would be the ideal aim to have and as far as rankings are concerned winning a big tournament or doing well over there would take care of the rankings.

7.You weren't part of the inaugural Indian Badminton League(IBL) in 2013. Just as a spectator, what did you make of the tournament?

A: To be honest, I didn’t watch any of the matches because I was quite annoyed that I wasn’t part of it. I think I was at my peak and that year reached the semifinals about a month or month-and-a-half before the auction. I was also part of the Indian team for the Sudirman Cup that year.

It was pretty disappointing to not be a part of it. I maybe watched it a bit, but I wasn’t really following it, but it found a lot of viewers and it was good for the sport. It was the inaugural year and I think it went off very well.

8.Finally, whom so you consider the best male singles player today?

A: I think Lin Dan of China. He has won not just everything once, but twice or thrice, which is quite incredible.