Having played a lot of top-level international badminton himself and knowing what it takes to be at the top, former National coach U Vimal Kumar is happy for Anup Sridhar.
“What Anup has done is good for badminton in India. Playing in the World Championship is different. He has beaten a couple of very good players. It is a good thing,” said Vimal. “Now there will be attention towards him and he will be monitored. Anup needs to learn to cope up with that pressure.”
Just like Padukone, Vimal too felt Sridhar needs to shift his base. “Our sincere advice to Anup would be to shift from here and train abroad. He has done it earlier also and some clubs have shown interest. He will get good help there and can train more professionally,” Vimal said.
“If he goes aboard, it will be a good platform to go higher from there. If he is in that tough circuit and goes through the rigours, it will do him good. But he should also take care of himself physically,” Vimal added.
Vimal felt Sridhar should not be in camps which are too long, something which can tire players out. “Even when he is in India, he should be in short camps and not very long ones. So wherever he is, careful planning is needed. Just like he did, training abroad for about 10 or 15 days before an event where he can spar and play will help,” he said.
Vimal went on: “Anup can get into the top 20. He just has to believe in himself. Chetan came close to that. Anup now has a chance. If he does well like this, he will be setting a trend for the younger players to follow.”