New Delhi, July 27: Indian shuttlers have their task cut-out at the world badminton championship starting in Birmingham tomorrow, as they strive to prove their mettle against the world's best and seal a berth for next year's Athens Olympics. In the absence of 2001 all England champion Pullela Gopichand, who did not qualify for the tournament under the new eligibility format, national champion Abhinn Shyam Gupta and south-paw Nikhil Kanetkar would try to make a mark in the game's flagship event.
But the duo has been a bit unlucky as a change in the initial draw, due to an embarrassing software error, saw them pitted against tough opponents in the very first round.
While Gupta faces third seed and last edition's bronze medallist Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, Kanetkar will take on 1997 world champion Peter Rasmussen of Denmark in the openers.
In the women's section, national champion Aparna Popat runs into world number 25 from Hong Kong, Wan Ting Ling, in the opening round. In the two times they met before, Aparna has beaten her once and lost once.
But chief coach Vimal Kumar is realistic about his team's prospects and confident of a good showing.
"If the men's players enter the quarterfinals and the women's players make the last 16, I think it can be considered a good achievement," Vimal Kumar said after a two-week camp in Bangalore.
The championship also provides the players a chance to gather crucial ranking points in their Athens Olympics qualification campaign, which ends on April 30, 2004. Bureau Report