The Indian Open will also be perhaps the first time that China’s impetuous world-beaters are sighted — in such staggering numbers — in India. “Just the fact that they force the other competitors to raise their game, leading to fantastic contests, will make it a feast,” D’Sa says. India has rarely hosted a tournament attractive enough for the Chinese to stop here, and as defending champs then, China didn’t travel to Jaipur for the Thomas Cup, making this a first.

For the top Indians — Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal — they’d be content playing hosts, without any attempt at being nice at all. Padukone believes the event is perfectly timed for the Indians. “Both Anup and Saina — others too — are at such a stage that the home-advantage works best. They are modestly ranked in the field, so no one’s quite breathing down their necks hoping them to win the title. It’s ideal to exploit your home courts and local crowds right now. The higher you go up in the rankings, the pressure to maintain that performance at home turns into a disadvantage,” Padukone adds.

National coach P Gopichand is hopeful for the Indians — forming 1/5th of the draw. “It’s a big event coming to India after a long time, and the best opportunity for us to gauge where we stand,” he stresses. “The good performances will be highlighted like never before,” he adds.

Doubles delight

If the singles event boasts of the big names, the doubles landscape has entertainment written all over it. D’Sa, who is excited about watching the singles, says there’s equal fun in the doubles. “If you’ve seen the trend at all the big events among the top combinations — Malaysians and Chinese — there are no sure-shot favourites. There’ve been upsets galore, rankings going kaput, with the better fancied pairings losing at All-England and world championships. Unlike tennis, the field is far too open in badminton doubles, which makes it very interesting,” he adds. India’s crack pair of Sanave Thomas-Rupesh Kumar will add the local flavour.

... contd.