Show some respect to Hidayat, Jwala Gutta tells Saina

Top doubles badminton player Jwala Gutta today hit out at singles star Saina Nehwal for her comments that Taufik Hidayat should accept the reality that he is a retired player and cannot get highest base price in IBL. Hidayat, who is Saina’s IBL teammate in Hyderabad Hotshots franchise, had complained of unfair treatment to foreign players by the league organisers. Hidayat was bought for USD 15,000 at his base price and the Indonesian felt he deserved much more. Saina, however, said Hidayat should realise that he was a retired player, a comment which did not amuse Jwala. [caption id=“attachment_1050553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jwala Gutta and former doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa. AFP[/caption] “Taufik Hidayat is one of the greatest players… and I don’t think you can dismiss his views just because he has “retired” from the game!” wrote Jwala, who plays for Delhi franchise in IBL, on her Twitter page. “I don’t know how anyone can talk about him in such manner… without giving him and his stature any respect… it’s absolutely sad!” she said. Jwala did not name Saina in her series of tweets on the issue but in an apparent reference to the Hyderabadi, she said that she should understand Hidayat’s concern. However, in replies to her followers, she mentioned Saina Nehwal’s Twitter account @NSaina. 

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  “No matter how big you have become in the sport, I think one should try and understand what your fellow players’ views are and work on it!” she tweeted. “Nobody can take away his achievements… just because he’s retired! He is and will always be one of the greatest badminton players! And again it’s not about money… it’s about respect!” Hidayat had yesterday expressed unhappiness on the treatment he got from organisers during the auction, saying it was his first and last IBL as Indian players were given preference for high price than the foreign players. “I felt bad when for the first time I saw on TV how much a player was bought for. I felt the IBL didn’t treat the foreign players in the right manner. The price slab that was set was nonsense. Most of the foreign players were sold for their base price while the Indian players were bought for much higher prices. “I felt the IBL organisers did not take world rankings into consideration. This is my first and last IBL,” Hidayat had said. Saina, though, did not find anything wrong: “I think world number one (Lee Chong Wei) got the highest price (of USD 1,35,000). I don’t think there is anything unfair about it. He (Hidayat) should accept it that he has retired now so you can’t get the highest base price of course. It’s a negative thing to speak like this. “Of course, he (Hidayat) is a great player, he has achieved so much. But right now I don’t think he should expect to get more than what he is getting. You see Lee Chong Wei is getting the highest money. It’s a fair thing,” Saina said. PTI