New Delhi: Former World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat feels that other than Saina Nehwal, who is a medal hopeful at the London Olympics, other Indian badminton players need a lot of improvement. "There are countless players but [they are] not up to the mark. Sourabh [Verma] and all will take time. Only Saina is hopeful of grabbing a medal at the Olympics."
The pool of talent available in the men's section has not impressed the former Olympic gold medalist. "There are so many Chinese players. From Malaysia, there is only Lee Chong Wei. From Denmark, after Peter Gade, it is Jan O Jorgensen. Not enough players," he lamented.
Hidayat, however, feels that post the Olympics, new players may come up. "I think Chinese shuttlers will be dominating the whole event. After the Olympics, Peter Gade will retire and it will be more appealing," he said.
The 31-year-old champion admits that it is progressively becoming harder to compete against the younger lot of players. With eyes set on a good performance at the Olympics, the Indonesian is looking to test his game at the India Open.
"I'm just preparing for the Olympics. I have been lucky in India. I don't know what works for me here but I have won the Syed Modi Grand Prix and hopefully, I will win the Super Series as well. I think my game is better than last year but my ranking has gone down, and I am at No. 12 now. I'll do my best but I don't have any target. Actually, I want to test my game here." an aspiring Hidayat said.
Hidayat will start his campaign against Yun Hu of Hong Kong on Wednesday and is likely to meet world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in the quarters. He feels that it won't be easy to win the tournament, although Lin Dan is not playing in this edition.
"Even though Lin Dan and Chen Long are not coming, there are so many players. I think all the players, right from the first round, everybody can beat you. It is not easy for me. I was talking to Peter [Gade] that it is not easy for us anymore," he said.
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