Shuttlers have little choice but to play a different game

Two years ago at the senior nationals in Guwahati, a woman shuttler in her early 20s asked an official of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) who was passing by, “Should I start thinking about getting married, instead of playing badminton?” Dhanya Nair’s frustration was understandable. She had reached the singles semifinals and doubles final in the last edition of the nationals and was looking forward to make a mark in the domestic circuit to cement her place in the India team and get more international exposure. But just one senior-ranking tournament was held between the two nationals and the rustiness in her game and the frustration of a bad practice session triggered the outburst. The situation hasn’t changed since then. The domestic circuit is in shambles and the second-rung players begin every season unsure about the number of tournaments they will get to play. [caption id=“attachment_13824” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa leave after losing in the India Open. AFP”]  [/caption] The 2011-12 season began on a similar note with the NSCI All India Senior Ranking badminton tournament, to be held in Mumbai from June 8 being cancelled at a short notice. The reason: organisers were unhappy with the lack of participation from the top stars. According to BAI’s tournament structure, the domestic circuit should have five senior-ranking tournaments every year followed by the senior nationals. In the past, most of these events served as selection tournaments for the Indian teams on various international tours. But with the sports ministry providing additional funds for the Commonwealth Games preparation in 2006 and asking the BAI to select a core group, the importance of these tournaments came down drastically as the core group probables recognised that there was no need to participate in these tournaments to get selected in the team. Even chief national coach Puella Gopi Chand was guilty of undermining the importance of these tournaments as most national camps were held around the same time, forcing the organisers to cancel them for lack of participation. Commonwealth Games are over, but the rot continues. The exposure tours allowed the core group probables to improve their world ranking considerably. And since entries to international tournaments are now based on world rankings alone, the players know that they need not participate in domestic tournaments. Gopi Chand’s idea to shield the core group probables has backfired in a sense that most of these players are now either scared of losing on the domestic circuit or feel that they have no obligation towards it. Last year, national champion Aditi Mutatkar pulled out of the domestic events, claiming that the events were clashing with her international commitments. However, a quick glance at the calendar revealed that there was a three-week gap between the two tournaments and Aditi could have easily participated in both. Same has been the case with the likes of Ajay Jayaram, P Kashyap and others. It is understandable that Saina Nehwal doesn’t play in these tournaments, saying the level of the competition is very low. But that is not the case in the men’s circuit. The juniors have been running their seniors close and the upsets in the nationals are a testimony to the fact. A few state associations have now come up with drastic measures of not funding players who do not play in at least three of the five tournaments. But there is no political will in implementing such measures following the media frenzy that was created in the wake of Gopi Chand barring players from competing in international tournaments and forcing them to attend national camps. However, something will have to be done soon. While we can celebrate the fact that we have about 6-7 top 100 players, the standard of Indian badminton can be maintained and improved only if we have a robust domestic circuit. The other point of discussion is the reduction in prize money for the ranking tournaments so that the organisers do not have to raise big money and lure the stars. But that is unlikely to cut much ice with the organisers. One way forward could be the BAI itself organising the circuit and providing financial aid to the organisers to ensure that these tournaments are not cancelled because of the absence of top players. Will the BAI have the will to do that, only time will tell.