They boast the best facilities in the whole of the UAE and one look at the three brightly lit courts and you know they are not exaggerating one bit. Badminton happens to be just one of the sports that has failed to stir the imagination of UAE nationals and it is mainly due to the Indian expatriates here that the game is played at all.
Not surprisingly, therefore, that the India Club-Western Union UAE Open Badminton Tournament, currently under way at the India Club is mostly about Indians. It's also a little bit about Iranians, and that's a surprise because just across the road is the Iranian Club. But the two Iranians – one of whom is the three-time defending champion of the tournament and also coaches there – have pledged their allegiance to India Club.
Afshin Bozorgzadeh, winner of the UAE Open from 2004-06 and Ali Shahhosseini, playing his first UAE Open, have turned their backs on the Iranian Club mainly because of the lack of facilities there.
“They have a multi-purpose court where they play badminton, football, basketball and what not. Plus the courts are open to badminton for only an hour and half or two at the most. At India Club there are exclusive facilities for all sports,'' he said.
This year, the tournament has got a major boost with the arrival of three Indian shuttlers who have made quite a name for themselves back home. The organisers feel the arrival of Thomas Kurian, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Arup Baidya and Davinder Dhillon could just trigger off an inflow of highly-rated stars in the near future.
“We plan to bring in World No 38 Jan Frohlich for the next edition. Moreover, players from some of the top Asian nations like Malaysia will also be invited next year,'' said a badminton committee official.
But with the UAE having no badminton association, it will be left to the India Club to take their plans forward, one of which is to introduce the 21-point format from next year, with the now-obsolete 15-point system still being favoured.
All about the venue
- Celebrated its 43rd anniversary in January this year
- Boasts exclusive facilities in virtually every sporting discipline including badminton, swimming, squash, basketball, indoor football, hockey and cricket
- Is open only to its members which amounts to a staggering 2,500 families
- Membership fee is Dh13,000 with annual fee being Dh1,800
- Contact: India Club on 04-337 1112 or log on to www.indiaclubdubai.com
Action at a glance
- Boys' Under 12 Years Singles: Jason Vellara bt Roshan Joseph (Fujairah) 21-10, 22-20
- Boys' Under 14 Years Singles: Bernie Shaji (Fujairah) bt Jvalin Shah 21-4, 21-4; Channabasava Jyoti (India) bt Bernie Shaji (Fujairah) 21-13, 21-8
- Boys' Under 18 Years Singles: Channabasava Jyoti (India) bt Anoj Babu 15-2, 15-0; Subhash Somanath (Bahrain) bt Sanjay Kumar 15-0, 15-0; Subhash Somanath (Bahrain) bt Bernie Shaji (Fujairah) 15-0, 15-2
- Boys' Under 18 Years Doubles: Channabasava Jyoti / Sachin S. Nayak bt Sahil Lulla / Jvalin Shah 15-0, 15-0; Channabasava Jyoti / Sachin S. Nayak bt Kanishq Shah / Mohit Ganwani 15-3, 15-2
- Men's Singles: Ali Shahhosseini (Iran) bt Rakesh Ramakrishnan 15-0, 15-1; Abhinn Shyam Gupta (India) bt Kim Milton Knudsen (Denmark) 15-3, 15-5; Reji Thomas bt Navin Chacko 13-15, 15-1, 15-4
- Men's Doubles: James Varghese/Rakesh Ramakrishnan bt Avinash Janardhanan / Naveen Chandran 15-5, 15-3; Arun Kelangath/Vivek Nair bt Sibi Chandrabhanu/Gafoor P S 15-4, 9-15, 15-9; Harjit Singh/Vikram Bhasin (India) bt Saajan V V/Navin Chacko 15-1, 15-3, James Varghese/Rakesh Ramakrishnan bt Chinthaka Gunaratne/Nuwan Abeysinghe 15-5, 8-15,15-8; Manoj Mathews / John of Matha bt Anand Rosh/Gregory George 15-9, 15-6; Lalmoney K/Dinesh Nair bt Arun Poovaiah/Praveen Babu 16-17, 15-7, 15-9
- Mixed Doubles: Afshin Bozorgzadeh/Vidya Manghnani bt J J Jalal/Marlyn Parker 15-0, 15-1
- Veterans' Singles: Harjit Singh (India) bt Khurshed Ahmed 15-3, 15-2; Suresh Kumar S bt Joseph Abraham 15-9, 15-5; Harjit Singh (India) bt Abdul Latheef A K 15-4, 15-4
- Veterans' Doubles: Kamaludheen C P /John Of Matha bt Saseendran M K/ Venugopal K 15-9, 15-6
- Veterans' Mixed Doubles: Santosh Kumar S/Marlyn Parker bt Prachana Unakul/Alista Syamsilar 15-3, 15-1; Santosh Kumar S/Marlyn Parker bt Abdul Salam/Radha Vasudevan 15-3, 15-5
