Thursday, May 14, 2015

Interview with Sukhen Dey: "Confident of qualifying for Rio Olympics"


This piece was published in Sportskeeda
 
Sukhen Dey has seen many ups and downs in his distinguished weightlifting career so far. The 25-year-old lifter from West Bengal, who is employed with the Army, is one of the known faces of Indian weightlifting having won the coveted gold and silver medals at the 2014 and 2010 Glasgow and New Delhi Commonwealth Games respectively. Sukhen, who is training hard for the upcoming Asian Championships as well the World Championships, is upbeat about making the cut for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The country’s ace weightlifter spoke in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:


Q You are training hard for the upcoming 45th Asian Weightlifting Championships to be held in Kathmandu. How are the preparations going on?


Well, I have started training at our ongoing national camp which started at NIS Patiala on April 1. Around 15 weightlifters are training in the senior category and the camp will run until November when the 2015 World Weightlifting Championship will be held in Houston, USA. I’m coming off a right shoulder injury at the national camp prior to the 2014 World Weightlifting Championship held at Almaty, Kazakhstan last November. I had to miss the 2014 World Weightlifting Championship and was out of training for close to four months.
As far as the 45th Asian Weightlifting Championship is concerned, it is like starting from scratch for me training-wise since I had a long injury lay-off. This is the third time that I will be playing in the Asian Weightlifting Championship – I had taken part in 2009 and 2013 on both occasions in Kazakhstan. The trials for the 2015 edition are likely to be held in May-end and hopefully I will compete in Kathmandu.

Q You won the silver medal in the 56-kg category at the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games and followed it up with a gold medal in the 56-kg category at the 2014 Incheon Asiad. How would you look at the memories of these achievements?


When I look back, I feel I should have won the gold in 2010 but I missed my final weight which allowed Malaysia’s Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim to walk away with the gold. Coincidentally, in 2014 Commonwealth Games I beat a Malaysian - Zulhelmi Md Pisol – for the gold in the same weight category.

Q You wanted to be a body builder, but ended up being a weightlifter. How did the switch happen?


I used to do body building at a gym near my house in Andul in West Bengal’s Howrah district in 2003. Gradually, I saw some weightlifting events and was impressed by the way the crowds cheered and how the lifters were made to look like heroes. I started weightlifting training under Ajay Majhi. I was enrolled in Army Sports Institute in 2004 and made my senior international debut in 2005 in an Asian Meet in Kazakhstan, where I won the gold.

Q Weightlifters don’t find it easy to land jobs in India. When did you join the Army?


I joined the Army in 2008 as Havildar and then after my silver medal effort in the 2010 CWG, I was promoted to JCO and now I work as a Subedar.

Q You hail from an economically-disadvantaged family – so how do you use manage your training?


I find it hard to manage everything with my salary of Rs. 34,000 as I have to maintain our training as well as support my family. My dad is ageing and two of my brothers are doing small jobs.

Q You had tested positive at the 2011 Continental Clubs Grand Prix Weightlifting Championships held in Penang Malaysia. How did you overcome that tricky phase?


I was feeling embarrassed about what people would think about me. I was wondering whether people will think if I’m taking steroids to win medals. My two-year ban ended in 2013 and I played in the nationals and came good at the 2014 CWG. I take supplements which we think are right for us, but if any supplement powder has steroids in it, how do we know? I knew I was not taking any performance enhancing drugs.

Q Indian weightlifting has been rocked by a spate of doping scandals over the years. How do you think it is happening?


Lack of awareness about what to take and what not to is a factor. Generally, supplements bought from non-Indian companies are quite expensive, but are more authentic than the Indian companies – some if not all would mix steroids with supplement powder. So if any weightlifter uses supplement and gets enhanced results, he tells others who will use and this is how they face the dire consequences.

Q What is the maximum number of tournaments a weightlifter can compete in a year in order to deliver optimum performance?


At the most, a weightlifter can feature in three tourneys in a year as conditioning is so very important. Playing in three events can help a weightlifter to deliver his best as the sport involves so much of hard training and diet control.

Q How do you rate your chances of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics?


First of all, I have to stay injury-free and keep working hard. My world ranking is number 16 at the moment and the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships in Houston will serve as an Olympic qualifier. I think I will need to lift 115 kg in snatch and 145 kg in clean and jerk, which should be good enough to make the cut.

Interview: Winning big tourneys more important than rankings: Parupalli Kashyap


This piece was published in Sportskeeda
 
Parupalli Kashyap is on a high after pulling off a semifinal finish at the recently-held Singapore Open after battling a bout of injuries earlier this year. The country’s most experienced men’s singles shuttler who once reached a ranking of six in April 2013, moved up one spot to 14 in the BWF rankings following his decent run at the Singapore Open.

The 28-year-old spoke in an exclusive interview.


Excerpts:

Q: How do you assess your semifinal finish at the recent Singapore Open?


Well, I was happy with the way things went for me at the Singapore Open given the injuries I had this year. I upset the World No. 5 Son Wan Ho of Korea along the way and was pretty chuffed with my overall effort. I did not have a great run in the Malaysian Open and Sunrise Indian Open as I was staging a comeback from injuries and it was nice to get a good performance under my belt.

Q: Talking of injuries, how frustrating it is for a player to get into a rhythm and again sustain an injury and start everything from scratch?


It can be frustrating. I won the Indian Open at Lucknow in January and got injured. I had to miss two tournaments and I literally pushed myself to play in the All England Championship in March as it would have meant that I would miss three tournaments in a row. In fact, I would have attracted two hefty fines – one for missing three events in a row after giving entries and the other for missing the All England Championship after giving entries. The fines are in the range of $400-500 and it’s not easy when you sustain an injury.

Q: You were the country’s top ranked men’s singles players for a fairly long time until K Srikanth surpassed you last year. Is there any disappointment deep inside you in that regard?


Being the country’s top ranked shuttler is a status I would love to hold on, but I think it is equally important to win big-ticket tournaments, which counts in the long run. I’m really happy for Srikanth who has been in exceptional form over the last twelve months.

Q: There is a great deal of talk about rankings of shuttlers. Should a player focus on rankings?


Look, having a higher ranking helps you to gain entry into top tournaments, where you play against the world’s best. Winning tournaments likes Super Series Premier, Super Series, Grand Prix Gold or an Olympic or World Cup medal is even bigger than that. When you retire from the sport, people remember you more for what you have won and not the rankings.

Q: You made your senior international debut in 2005 and have been carrying on the mantle of being the country’s top singles player. Ten years on the circuit, how long do you think you can continue?


I’m pretty sure I can continue playing for another six-seven years at least. Let’s hope for the best.

Q: The likes of Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei have crossed thirty and are only getting stronger. Do you think it’s a myth that shuttler lose their prime form after reaching thirty?


It’s a myth actually. Lin Dan is 31 and is not only playing in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but is even keen to play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Lee at 32 is also going strong.

Q: The Indian Badminton League has been a great boon for the sport in the country, but hasn’t been held since 2013.


The IBL is a great concept and although we are hearing that it will be held this year, I have no idea when it is going to be held this year. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Q: Saina Nehwal attracts so many corporate sponsors for her much deserved achievements on the court. Why is that our men shuttlers despite three of them featuring in the top-20 get a raw deal?


I think cricket is so big in India that when corporate houses think of sponsorship for male sportspersons, cricketers become their first option. If you look at all the sports channels, tell me how many of them are showing badminton coverage, probably Sony Six. The ICC World Cup is over, but Star Sports continue to show highlights of the same. Can we see the highlights of a badminton event being shown on a lot of channels after a tournament is over.
There is a need for extensive television coverage of badminton by sports channels in India. Unless that happens, I don’t think the situation will change much.

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