Sanave prays for Diju's success in London Olympics

KOCHI: Though India's doubles-specialists Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar had ended their international title drought with the Austrian International Challenge title this February, the pair missed the Olympic berth at the last minute.
They were second in the standby list but the world no. 27 duo saw the first standby team marching into London on better ranking points.
"It was so close. After two bad seasons, we were back in form with the Austrian crown but failed to book the London ticket. We felt very disappointed but wish good luck to the other shuttlers who will represent India at the Olympics," said Sanave, who won the mixed doubles title with Daya Elsa Jacob in the third Badminton Promotion India (BPI) All Kerala State Ranking tournament at the Regional Sports Centre, Kochi on Friday.
Sanave, who partnered Olympic-bound V Diju at the start of his senior doubles career, hopes the Diju-Jwala pair can register some early upsets to bag an Olympic medal. "They will have to face some top teams either in the first or second round. The competition will be tough, but I think they will come home with a medal," said Sanave.
Asked about more kids coming into badminton these days, the former national doubles champion said that 70 per cent of the credit goes to Saina Nehwal.
"Saina has played an important role in making badminton very popular in India. Youngsters take her as a role model and that's good for the sport. But, apart from Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta, India's women players are not mentally strong and that's what affects them at the major tournaments," the native of Mararikkulam, Alappuzha said.
On junior players preferring singles over doubles or mixed doubles, Sanave said the current trend should change to mould better players for the future.
"Our system needs a revamp. We start concentrating on doubles or mixed doubles when players cross the 20-year mark and players go through tough training in the late 20's. That's not ideal for long term plans. We should find out talents and train them as specialists," added Sanave.
The fast, right-handed back-court player plans to start an academy with Rupesh after retirement.
"It's just a thought now. We need to do a lot of home work to fulfill this dream. Our plan is to start an academy somewhere in Kochi and hope we can mould talented players once we start it," concluded Sanave.