2008 Thomas & Uber Cup Asian Qualifying Rounds

Anup Sridhar led the Indian men’s team – which consisted of Arvind Bhat, Chetan Anand, Akshay Dewalkar, V. Diju, P. Kashyap, Rupesh Kumar, Sanave Thomas and J.B.S. Vidyasagar – to a fifth place finish at the Thomas Cup Asian qualifying round held at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 19^th – 24^th Feb.

Being the top ranked Indian player, Anup consistently played against higher ranked opponents. His big win came in the last tie against Hong Kong where he beat World No. 19 Yan Kit Chan.

A summary of his matches:

League match against Pakistan:
Anup Sridhar (27) beat Wajid Ali (167) in straight sets – 21-16 21-15 – wrapping up the match in 30 min. Head-2-Head Anup leads 2:0.

League match against Japan:
Anup Sridhar (27) lost to Shoji Sato (17) – 17-21 15-21 in 35 minutes. Head-2-Head Anup and Shoji are tied at 2:2.

Quarterfinal match against Malaysia:
Anup Sridhar (27) lost to Chong Wei Lee (2) – 15-21 14-21 in 28 minutes. Head-2-Head Chong leads 2:0.

5^th – 8^th place match against Singapore:
Anup Sridhar (27) lost to Yen Hui Kendrick Lee (20) – 16-21 14-21 in 24 minutes. Head-2-Head Yen leads 2:0.

5^th – 8^th place match against Hong Kong:
Anup Sridhar (27) beat Yan Kit Chan (19) – 21-16 21-17 in 26 minutes. Head-2-Head Anup leads 1:0.

Anup’s next tournament is the Yonex German Open at Rhein-Ruhr Halle/ Mulheim, Germany from 26^th February – 2^nd March. Anup reached the semi-finals last year and is currently seeded No. 9.

2008 Senior National Badminton Championships - Goa from 19-27January

Anup Sridhar came into the tournament immediately after playing the Proton Malaysia Open Super Series 2008 where he reached the pre-quarter finals, losing to Hyun Ii Lee who was the eventual runner-up.

Anup had little time to shed off the travel fatigue and jet lag in pursuit of the title of National Champion (which has little significance beyond the title). Anup was the top seeded player in the tournament as he was the No. 1 ranked player in India.

The tournament started with the Team event, where Anup lead the Petroleum Sports Control Board to the title. In Men’s singles that followed, Anup’s run ended at the semi-finals where he was edged out by Chetan Anand, who was the defending National Champion, in a tight three-set match.

Anup’s next tournament is the Thomas Cup in Vietnam from 19-24 February where he is the captain of the Indian Men’s team.

Wrap of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 ...

2007 was an eventful and successful year for Anup Sridhar as he ended the year as the top Indian badminton player with a career-high world ranking of 25.

Having reached the semifinals at the German Open and the Asian Continental Championships and the quarterfinals at the Thailand Open and, most importantly, at the 2007 World Championships, the next year holds much promise for this budding shuttler. Anup has displayed, on more than one occasion, that he can take on and beat the best in the world. His most famous win was the one over Taufik Hidayat – former world no. 1, gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2005 World Champion – at the World Championships in what was one of the longest matches of the tournament. Anup's performance at the World Championships was rated among the top-10 Indian sporting performances of 2007.

Anup started 2008 with a bang by winning the prestigious Pramod Mahajan All-India ranking tournament in New Delhi. He followed that up by reaching the pre-quarterfinals, one round better than last year, of the Proton Malaysia Super Series where he lost to Hyun Il Lee, the eventual runner-up.

Anup is an employee of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and is currently sponsored by Yonex and SLK Software.

The next few months are crucial for Anup as he aims to confirm his place at the Beijing Olympics. Possessing the incredible ability to raise his game when it really matters, we strongly believe that Anup has the potential to be amongst the best in the world and that he is a strong medal contender at Beijing this year.

Go Anup Go!