By Avishek Roy, IANS,
New Delhi : Chetan Anand’s critics had written him off, but he is thrilled to prove them wrong by winning his first Grand Prix title, the Bitburger Open in Germany Sunday. The national champion demolished the inner demons and ignored stinging barbs of critics to get his focus back to win four tournaments this year.
Chetan was at the peak of his career last year when a running battle with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) pulled him down. The 28-year-old shuttler says that he has put that phase behind him and worked hard to get back into the groove.
“Winning the title was a great moment for me and my wife’s mixed doubles title was like icing on the cake, a great feeling,” Chetan told IANS.
Chetan and Jwala refused to join national camps as their entries to international tournaments were stopped. BAI insisted on their training in the national camps, instead. The couple was dropped from the national team and Chetan’s ranking crashed, from 21 to around 50 before he recovered with a sensational performance to reach the Indian Open final, beating some big names of world badminton on the way.
“I won the Commonwealth Games bronze in 2006 and after that I was ranked 21 just before the controversial fight. I wanted to play some tournaments and qualify for the Olympics, but that did not happen. I have come a long way since and now I know that the only way to answer critics is to let my racquet talk. I worked hard on my game and mentally I am tougher now. I am happy that I could prove my critics wrong,” said Chetan, who won the Czech International title last week.
“It was a very tough period for us. Thanks to the support and encouragement of my coach S. M. Arif and our families that Jwala and I could come out of it.”
“Now I am more focussed and I am enjoying my game. I am more confident and I am not worried about the opponents. I concentrate on my game and I know rest of the things fall in place. I hope this peak period continues for another year or two. I hope to reach the top-25 by the year-end and then I will aim for top-20.”
Chetan is now training in Germany in Berlin club and he says the exposure will come in handy.
“This is the first time that I am playing for a German club. This season there are 14 matches and I am required to play a minimum of eight. I practised with the German squad before the Bitburger Open and that was really helpful.”
Chetan will next play in Dutch, Danish and French Open tournaments.
“These are all important tournaments for me and I hope to carry on my good form,” he signed off.