Chetan Anand spent the best part of a decade as India’s leading men’s singles player, a tall, attacking right-hander from Vijayawada who bridged the gap between the Pullela Gopichand era and the generation that followed. He won Commonwealth Games medals in Melbourne and New Delhi, collected Grand Prix titles in Europe and at home, and broke into the world’s top ten at a time when few Indian men had managed it.
Name: Chetan Anand | Born: 8 July 1980, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh | Sport: Badminton | Event: Men’s singles
Early years in Vijayawada
Anand was born in Vijayawada to Harshavardhan and Suguna. His father played in inter-state tournaments for lecturers and was the first person to put a racket in his son’s hand. The game quickly became more than a pastime. Anand studied at a local public school and went on to complete a degree in mechanical manufacturing engineering in his home city, juggling lectures with long hours in the hall.
His coach for much of his career was S. M. Arif, the Hyderabad mentor who also guided several of India’s best players of that period. Early on, Prakash Padukone arranged for him to attend a training camp at an academy in Kuala Lumpur, which gave the teenager his first sustained exposure to the speed and discipline of Asian badminton. He became national junior champion in 1999.
Making his name on the circuit
The step up to senior level came through the satellite and international events that formed the lower rungs of the world tour. Anand won the India Satellite in 2001 and then took the Le Volant d’Or de Toulouse in France in 2004. A year later he enjoyed a productive spell in Europe, winning the Welsh International and the Irish International, along with the Sri Lanka Satellite.
At home he became the man to beat. He won the senior national singles title four times, and his 2007 triumph at Patna came against Anand Pawar in the final. He also won singles gold at the South Asian Games in 2004, 2006 and 2010, adding team gold on each occasion.
Commonwealth bronze in Melbourne
The 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne gave Anand his first major multi-sport medal. He reached the semi-finals of the men’s singles, a draw dominated by the Malaysians Lee Chong Wei and Wong Choong Hann, and then beat England’s Aamir Ghaffar 21-17, 18-21, 21-13 to take bronze. He also played his part as India won bronze in the mixed team event. Later that year he received the Arjuna Award.
Around this period he partnered Jwala Gutta in mixed doubles on occasion, and the pair won the Sri Lanka Satellite in 2006 and the Cyprus International in 2007. The two had married in 2005. The marriage later ended in divorce.
Grand Prix breakthrough
The 2008 season was the most productive of his career. Anand won the Cyprus International late in 2007 and carried that form into the new year with titles at the Kenya, Nepal and Czech internationals. The biggest prize came in Germany, where he won the Bitburger Open Grand Prix. He also reached the finals of the India Open and the Dutch Open.
In 2009 he went one better in the Netherlands, beating Eric Pang of the hosts 21-12, 21-15 to win the Dutch Open. He also won the Syed Modi International in Lucknow. These results took him to a career-high world ranking of 10 in February 2009, a level no Indian man had reached for some time. That same year he became the first brand ambassador in India for the sportswear firm Li Ning.
Silver at a home Games
The 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi were the main target of his later career. India reached the final of the mixed team event at the Siri Fort Sports Complex and met Malaysia, the strongest badminton nation in the Commonwealth. Malaysia won 3-1, and Anand left with a silver medal to go with his Melbourne bronze.
An ankle injury in October 2010 hurt his momentum, and his ranking slipped outside the top 50. He kept competing and won the Mauritius International in 2011, but younger players such as Parupalli Kashyap were by then pushing to the front of Indian men’s singles.
Life after top-level play
Anand was employed by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation during his playing days, a familiar arrangement for Indian athletes of his generation. After stepping back from the international circuit he turned to coaching and runs a badminton academy in Hyderabad. In October 2012 he married Sarada Govardhini Jasti, and the couple have two daughters.
His place in Indian badminton history rests on consistency over a long period. He was among the few Indian men of his time to win Grand Prix events in Europe, and his two Commonwealth Games medals came in a sport where Malaysia and England usually took the spoils.
Career record and honours
- Commonwealth Games: bronze, men’s singles, Melbourne 2006
- Commonwealth Games: bronze, mixed team, Melbourne 2006
- Commonwealth Games: silver, mixed team, New Delhi 2010
- South Asian Games: singles and team gold in 2004, 2006 and 2010; doubles silver in 2010
- Grand Prix titles: Bitburger Open 2008, Dutch Open 2009, Syed Modi International 2009
- Grand Prix runner-up: India Open 2008, Dutch Open 2008
- International titles include Toulouse 2004, Welsh and Irish internationals 2005, Cyprus International 2007, Kenya, Nepal and Czech internationals 2008, Mauritius International 2011
- Senior national singles champion four times; national junior champion 1999
- Career-high world ranking: 10 (February 2009)
- Arjuna Award: 2006
