The dream goes on for Daniel despite Kenya setback

By Ifeanyi Ibeh



At the start of 2009, Grace Daniel had lofty ambitions of breaking into the top-50 in the Badminton World Federation’s women’s singles rankings.

But as the year approaches its midway point, Daniel’s aspiration in the singles event appears to have hit the rocks, especially after her disappointing exit at the quarter-final stage following her loss to South Africa’s Stacey Doubell at last month’s African Senior Badminton Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.

That loss, and her subsequent non-involvement in the Yonex Kenya International Open, which came up right after the African Championships, has seen Daniel plummet down to 291 in the women’s singles world ranking; a far cry from the 93rd position she occupied at the end of 2008.

“It’s just one of those things,” said Daniel in response to why she lost to the tournament’s eventual first runner-up. “It just wasn’t my day; we got to Kenya quite late and a lot of things didn’t go our way but she (Doubell) played well and deserved to win.”

The dark-skinned Nigerian also had the dream of climbing further up the ranking in both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles events. And not even the Nigerian team’s late arrival to the championship’s venue could derail her quest for honours in these events, particularly in the women’s doubles event where she avenged her earlier loss to Doubell with the help of doubles partner, Mary Gideon.

Daniel then went ahead to partner men’s singles champion, Ola Fagbemi, on the way to victory in the mixed doubles event of the African Championship. And although she failed to take part in the singles event at the Kenya International Open, she was able to advance all the way to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles event; a feat that has seen the Abuja-based player and her playing partner, Gideon, rise to the 153rd spot in the rankings.

And she is now hoping for the trend to continue as she looks ahead to the second half of the year.

“Winning the doubles title at the African Championships and getting to the semi-finals at the Kenya Open were the perfect compensation for me after all that happened in the singles,” said Daniel in an interview with NEXT Sports where she also sang the praises of her long-standing doubles partner.

“But I didn’t do it all alone. Mary was there to back me up; she and I have come a long way and our position in the world rankings has improved. I hope it gets better and better,” she added.

An opportunity to soar further in the world rankings will present itself at next month’s Mauritius International Open where Daniel will, amongst other aspirations, defend her women’s singlescrown.

“I am looking forward to Mauritius, but at the same time I have to ensure I’m ready for the championship by focussing on my training programme,” stated Daniel.