Worldly wise

World No.15 Chetan Anand has opted out of the Thailand Open Gold Grand Prix which begins on Monday. Anand felt discomfort in his left ankle during practice in Hyderabad.

“I decided not to stress myself, especially as my left ankle is a bit sore. It jars when I land after a jump smash and is also troubling me while executing a round-the-head shot. I’ll just train and recover. I should be fully fit in a couple of days. There is nothing to worry about,” Anand told DNA from Hyderabad on Thursday.

He is currently training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad under long-time coach SM Arif.

With Arif monitoring him during the two sessions of training every day, which lasts approximately five hours in all, Anand is confident his game will peak by the time the World Championship begins at the Gachhibowli Stadium from August 10.

“Arif sir knows my game inside out. He knows how much training I can take and how much he can push me. He brings the best out of me. Though I won’t be playing the Thailand Open, I believe training under him will be beneficial,” Anand said.

He had his sights set on training at the National Centre in Malaysia, but the Southeast Asian country’s badminton officials weren’t keen to entertain a top rival player ahead of the World Championship.

“They told me I was welcome after the World event. They weren’t too comfortable having me there ahead of the World Championship,” he said.

The former national champion will also head to the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore. Anand hopes to gain immensely from just talking to Padukone and the academy’s chief coach, U Vimal Kumar.

“Prakash sir has so much experience and wisdom. Talking to him and spending time at the academy will benefit me a great deal. It’ll put me in the right frame of mind for the World Championships. Though I have gone to the academy as part of camps, this will be the first time I will be going there for a personal session.”

After beating Anand Pawar in the final of the Tata Open, Anand said that he wasn’t pleased with his game.

“I liked the way I played in the run-up to the final. I guess I was a bit off-colour against Pawar. It was a one-off day. I’m confident of being at my best for the World Championship. I always play well at home and the Gachhibowli Stadium is a favourite venue. It’s where I won two gold medals at the National Games.”

Between his sessions at Hyderabad and Bangalore, Anand hopes to find the form that will help him pull off some upsets in front of a vociferous home crowd.

Four shuttlers in pre-quarters
Four Indian shuttlers advanced to singles pre-quarterfinals in the Asian Junior badminton championship in Kuala Lumpur. B Sumeeth Reddy and HS Prannoy made it to the pre-quarterfinals of boys’ singles while Rane Saili and N. Sikki Reddy advanced to girls’ singles pre-quarters. Sumeeth took out 11th seed Huynh Vinh of Vietnam 21-15, 21-15 and then got the better of Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 21-19, 21-16 in the third round. He will meet seventh seed Thai Pisit Poodchalat in the pre-quarters. Prannoy defeated Ouankhamchanh Phongthanom of Laos 21-10, 21-13 in the second round. He then saw off a stiff challenge from Korean Lee Sang Min 21-15, 22-20. He will face third seed Malaysian Zulkifli Zulfadli next. In the girls section, Saili beat Nguyen Thi Mai Anh of Vietnam 21-14, 21-13 to move to the third round.