Thursday, February 07, 2008

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!

No comments: