The Saina debate: Should she play or skip nationals?

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is not amused. But it also knows it can do little. BAI officials watched helplessly as top seed Saina Nehwal ‘retired’ from her first round match against Ksenia Polikarpova of Russia at the $120,000 Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament in Lucknow to catch a flight to Hyderabad, that had apparently been booked in advance. BAI officials are loathe to attribute motives officially but they should have seen this coming. That Saina was not keen to take part was well-known in badminton circles, coming as she was from the Super Series in Shenzhen in China, carrying an injury. The Olympics bronze medallist was obviously more keen to ensure she did not aggravate her injury which could force her out of the more important events in Korea and Malaysia in January. In a sense it was a repeat of last year. In December 2011, Saina had skipped the same tournament citing fatigue. This time, she gave in to pressure from Sahara India Pariwar (her new sponsor) and BAI officials who felt that Saina playing in India would be good for the game and would bring in spectators. Not an unfair request or argument but Saina who is now in a position to call the shots, was at best willing to play the first round. [caption id=“attachment_564177” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] During the time when Saina was coming up, India’s top player Aparna Popat would play all the national tournaments. AP[/caption] The BAI has for some time now, tried to make its top players including Saina fall in line, but with little success. Saina has refused to play any India tournament except the India Open Super Series in New Delhi in April. Most international players do not play the National championships forcing former All-England champion Prakash Padukone to write a sternly worded letter to the BAI president in September 2011, pointing out this “disturbing trend’’. In the letter, Padukone named the top players including Saina and regretted that “10 to 12 top players did not participate in both the senior events held recently’’. He added : “For the last two to three years, most of the top-ranked Indian players have stopped playing in the domestic events citing various reasons. This has resulted in sponsors backing out of events in the subsequent years… I strongly feel that these players should be compulsorily asked to play at least a few domestic tournaments. Otherwise their funding should stop. They should be made to go abroad on their own. Only then will they realize and start playing national events as well.’’ BAI officials agree with Padukone’s views. They are also justified in asking for support from the established players because in their absence, young talent cannot be encouraged. During the time when Saina was coming up, India’s top player Aparna Popat would play all the national tournaments giving young Saina a chance to compete against the best. Today India’s national champion is not truly ’national’ as she would not have triumphed against a Saina Nehwal. The world number three has not played the Nationals since 2007, the year she won the title. The reluctance of the top players to play in India tournaments also means the badminton fraternity in India is divided into the ‘internationals’ and the ’non-internationals’. In contrast to the past, where performance in the national tournaments had a say in which international tournaments players took part in, now it is not the case. The other downside is that unless a player is part of the elite coaching academies in Hyderabad and Bangalore, he or she does not get to see a Saina in action, leave alone get the opportunity to talk to her, get tips and feel motivated. While an annoyed BAI has now made it mandatory for all its players to play the Nationals, the question is whether it will have the teeth to enforce it. What is to guarantee against a repeat of Lucknow. And given the mood in the country against politician-controlled sports associations (BAI president Akhilesh Das is a BSP politician though he also played badminton for Uttar Pradesh in the 80s), popular support may veer towards Saina. But then Saina too should remember that she is a product of the system. She held a badminton racquet for the first time in a stadium run by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh and the government facilities in Hyderabad have played a huge part in moulding her as a champion player. The Gopichand academy where she practises, even though a private academy, is after all built on land given by the Andhra Pradesh government. While Saina’s concern to gain more international glory in her career is understandable and needs to be backed, she also needs to realise she is not just another player now. She is a role model and has the responsibility to motivate the gen-next of Indian badminton. She is the game’s rockstar in India and has to play her part in popularising it and getting more Indians - spectators and corporates - to invest in the sport. (T S Sudhir is the author of  ‘Saina Nehwal : An Inspirational Biography’ that released in July 2012)