A complete team effort: Vimal
The Hindu
‘We have never seen this in the past. These players are incredible’
Vimal Kumar, former international and manager of the victorious Indian team in the Thomas Cup in Bangkok, said on Sunday that to be part of the historic feat was a great feeling.
“We are going to have a nice meal and the BAI chief has given us permission to go anywhere we want,” he said during a virtual media interaction in the evening.
“I don’ts have any words to describe. I have never seen them so enthusiastic. It was complete team spirit. We have never seen this in the past. These players are incredible,” Vimal said.
“Earlier we used to depend on singles players but now we have doubles players and they pulled off some incredible wins. Equally, the credit should be given to Lakshya Sen, Srikanth and Prannoy. It is just fantastic,” he said.
“It was great to see the seniors Srikanth and Prannoy take the initiative to motivate the youngsters with their comforting words”
“I would rate this as the biggest ever achievement. Of course, Prakash, Gopi winning All England, Sindhu and Saina winning medals in Olympics and World championships were special. But, as a team we could never deliver when it mattered. When you call a nation a top badminton nation, all singles and doubles players perform. That is exactly what happened,” he explained.
On Prannoy, Vimal said they knew he would deliver if he was given time and space. “If you have put him through trials, he would have injured himself. He delivered in crucial matches in Malaysia, Denmark. Denmark was crucial, it was tough,” he said.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.