Aparna's Olympic qualification in jeopardy

By K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI, APRIL 10. Notwithstanding the optimism within the Badminton Association of India (BAI), Aparna Popat's qualification for the Olympic Games is in jeopardy following her three-month suspension by the International Badminton Federation (IBF).

From her 28th position in the IBF women's singles ranking list on March 30, Aparna has precipitously slipped to the 46th position in the April 6 rankings, following the loss of her points from the Uber Cup qualifiers here in February. The points were taken away after she tested positive for the stimulant, phenylpropanolamine, and the IBF slapped a three-month ban, to run from March 13 to June 12.

Though it was clear that Aparna had taken a medication for common cold, without realising that it contained the banned drug, (phenylpropanolamine), the IBF went ahead with the ban after a hearing at Birmingham on March 11. The IBF follows the Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code in handing out sanctions against doping offences.

After the news broke in India on April 5, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Executive President, Prakash Padukone, accepted his and his association's guilt in not educating the players more about the banned susbstances on the International Olympic Committee's list. However, Padukone noted that there was no threat to Aparna's Olympic qualification since she had sufficient points to withstand the expected fall after deducting the points she earned in the Uber Cup zonals.

Perhaps, no one had bargained for such a steep fall, mainly caused by too many players being within close range of her points tally. Aparna lost 342 team points while forfeiting her Uber Cup points, bringing her overall ranking points down to 111.61 from 144.06.

(Individual points plus team points divided by number of tournaments will give overall ranking points. Points are calculated for the best 12 tournaments for the preceding 52 weeks. Points earned are subject to a time reduction factor. Thus if the event was 13 weeks ago, the points are worth 90 per cent of their original value, if it was 26 weeks ago, the points are worth 75 per cent of their value and if it was 39 weeks ago it will be worth 55 per cent only).

Aparna's present position of 46, her worst in almost an year, leaves her with only a slim chance of figuring in the Sydney Olympics. The Olympic qualification is based on a complicated system laid down by the IBF.

There would be 29 players each in the men's and women's singles and 19 pairs each in the three doubles events. In all the events, ``there shall be''at least one player/pair representing each of the continental federations, Asia, Africa, Europe, Pan-America and Oceania. The rest would be drawn according to the ranking list, with countries having players within the 1-16 rankings getting in a maximum of three entries each in singles and the 17- 64 bracket eligible for two each. Players ranked 64 and lower are also eligible, but that is in theory only since the `search' to fill up 29 slots will never reach such depths unless through a continental quota qualification. The host, Australia, will have at least two players in the Olympic competition.

Based on the March 30 rankings, the IBF had drawn up a `dummy' qualifiers' list for the Olympics in order to familiarise all concerned with the system being adopted. Going by that list, with Aparna ranked at 28, the India No. 1 was the 22nd player to get into the qualifying bracket, out of the projected 29. The worst- ranked qualifier (excluding through a continental qualification) was the 34th-ranked Sandra Dimbour of France.

There were two other players who were making it, despite being below 35. Australian Rayoni Head qualifies as the best-ranked Oceania player and South African Meagen Burnett gets in as the best-ranked African. In the April 6 rankings, Rayoni is at the 40th spot while Meagen is 200th. Dimbour's ranking remains at 34 in the latest list and she continues to hold on to the final slot (excluding through continental quota) on the basis of rankings alone.

There are three more ranking lists due before the IBF finalises the Olympic entries on April 30. The last of the Grand Prix events before that, the Japan Open, was over on Sunday, There are a few lesser-rated events, including the European championships, which are due before the deadline. There might be some jockeying for minor positions through points gained in these tournaments. The British players are handicapped by the fact that England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, can have only one composite team, effectively meaning the players from these countries will have to get into the two slots that Britain can hope to get in each of the events.

For India, Aparna's case is unlikely to improve since she cannot participate in any international tournament up to June 12, ruling out any improvement in her points position. Theoretically, she can still go up in the rankings, depending on how badly the others, ahead of her, fare on the chart. But then, she cannot be expected to bridge the gap between 34 and 46 simply through that route.

Based on the April 6 rankings, there could be three woman players each from China and Japan, two each from Denmark, Korea, Britain (one from Wales, one from England), Hong Kong, Indonesia, The Netherlands (in case Indonesia-born Mia Audina is eligible to represent her adopted country) Canada and Sweden and one each from Thailand, Ukraine, Chinese Taipei, Finland, France, Australia and South Africa to complete the Olympic line-up..

There could still be hope for some, though a slender one at that, in case the IBF finds on May 1 that by choosing 29 players in each singles and 19 pairs in each doubles, it is not in a position to complete the full compliment of 172 badminton players agreed upon at the Olympics because of `common' entries in singles and doubles. In that case, the entry list might be expanded. Yet, this is unlikely to bail out Aparna,

Between the 35th and 45th slots at the moment, those eligible ahead of Aparna, in the event of an unexpected `elimination' from the higher ranks, are Ella Karachova (Russia) ranked 38th, the 42nd-ranked Chan Ya-Li of Chinese Taipei (as the second player from her country to figure in the 17-64 rankings), and Slovakian Maja Pohar, ranked 44th. The others will become ineligible since their respective countries would have already filled in the maximum quotas.

As for the men's section, P. Gopi Chand, despite missing the All- England due to typhoid, is well placed to earn a slot in the Olympics. He is at the moment ranked 30th on the IBF chart and even if he were to drop a few places in the coming weeks, the National champion should make it to Sydney. In the `dummy' based on March 30 rankings, Gopi is the 19th player out of 29, with his ranking at 28th. In the latest rankings, he is the 21st player out of 29.

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