The alarm bells are a-ringing, but is anyone who cares for Indian badminton listening?
India’s maiden title victory in the Thomas Cup last year not only sparked euphoria, but also raised expectations. It’s natural then that the disappointing run in the ongoing BWF Sudirman Cup Finals in Suzhou, China, has plunged the community into despair. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand claimed a sole win for India against Chinese Taipei and Malaysia.
There never was any doubt that India would be hard-pressed to make it to the quarterfinals after being drawn in group C with Chinese Taipei and Malaysia. The victory over Malaysia in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai gave India the edge, but their opponents showed up at full strength in Suzhou, just as they had in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
For all that, it is worrisome that the Indians took just six games off their opponents in winning only one of the 10 ties across these two matches. It is possible that with the right coaching inputs during the matches, some of the results could have been different. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clearly missed Mathias Boe, while PV Sindhu could do with better inputs from her corner.
How else can anyone explain Sindhu’s loss to Goh Jin Wei, ranked 19 slots below her? After winning the opening game comfortably, Sindhu was not recognisable as she repeatedly made inexplicable errors in the second game. Worse, she was unable to make the most of Goh tiring in the decider. Clearly, had she got better tactical inputs, Sindhu might have won the match.
Viewed in isolation or together, the results are far from satisfying. It may seem a knee-jerk reaction to defeats in the Sudirman Cup Finals, but the criticism cannot be dismissed as mere lament. Sport, by its nature, is always work in progress, and Indians, after all, do not hold back in celebrating the success of their athletes.
However, the nation’s penchant to celebrate team successes and individual performances at major events outstrips its eagerness to cheer individual glory in regular tour events. A good example was how golfer Aditi Ashok’s fourth-place finish at Tokyo2020 drew more traction than her feats on the WPGA Tour.
Having said that, it is of great concern that Sindhu lost to the 23-year-old Goh for the first time in five starts, and that she has now endured eight consecutive losses to Tai Tzu Ying, Chinese Taipei’s star. Similarly, Satwik and Chirag have not been able to find a way past Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia, the Malaysian aces, in eight attempts.
The top three Indian men’s singles players have not won even half their respective matches on the BWF Tour this year. HS Prannoy, currently ranked world No. 7, has won six of his 13 matches, while Lakshya Sen, world No. 22, has won five of his 12 starts. Kidambi Srikanth, 23rd in the rankings, has won only four of his 11 matches.
Also Read: “We will be Playing for the Flag”: Satwik and Chirag on Sudirman Cup
Thanks to a good run in the Spain Masters where she made it to the final after four victories, Sindhu has a 50 per cent win record in the 16 matches she has played this year. Three of her other wins came in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships, against low-ranked players from Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
If these are not causes for concern, nothing else is.
Of course, it is a tightrope that the players walk since Olympic qualification for Badminton hinges on the world rankings. They cannot afford to skip tournaments lest their rankings fall. But at some point, they need to sit down with India’s chief coach and plan their events in such a way that they are fresh and have enough gas in the tank keeping the big-ticket events in mind.
There are two major events that will draw more attention from fans of Indian badminton – the BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, from August 21 to 27, and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, from October 2 to 7. It is imperative that the sport’s leaders put their thinking caps on to help find solutions.
From a distance – and one can be accused of writing without first-hand information – it does appear that the think-tank has not heeded the warning signs. Many found it safer to bask in the semifinal appearance at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship 2023 in Dubai in February than to look ahead at the bigger challenges.
For some years now, drawing support from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), players have been plotting their own career paths. It is no secret that the TOPS secretariat has no High Performance Director, but relies on a combination of analysts and athlete-relationship managers to get proposals cleared by the Mission Olympic Cell.
There can be no better evidence of slack research and understanding than in the fact that the pair of Treesa-Gayatri pairing – ranked No.15 in the world – did not find favour with the TOPS Secretariat when it revised the list of athletes in the Core Group. They were kept in the Development Group.
The time may be at hand to stop well-intentioned forces from pulling in different directions, and for India to embrace a more professional approach that banks on inputs from specialists, based on consultations with the players. The sooner the powers-that-be, which are engaged in driving Indian badminton – both from outside BAI and within – realise this, the better it will be for the nation.
After all, sport is always work in progress, and it does not let any competitor rest on his or her oars.