Shuttle game on a bumpy ride

Bengaluru: For years, Indian badminton remained a sleeping giant, brimming with untapped potential. Prakash Padukone was the first to break through, paving the way for Pullela Gopichand to carry the torch forward. Players like Syed Modi, U Vimal Kumar, Aparna Popat, Jwala Gutta, and Ashwini Ponnappa kept the sport alive, even if they didn’t reach the same heights as the aforementioned duo.

India had always possessed the talent to produce world-class players; it was only a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if.’ That moment arrived in the latter half of the first decade of this century, ushering in an unprecedented era of success for Indian badminton.

The country unearthed one champion shuttler after another, making it the golden period in Indian badminton. Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen and doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy fetched multiple medals at the Asian Games, the Olympics, the World Championships and trophies across Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour tournaments. Players attained World No. 1 rankings and the trophies were amassed, catapulting the shuttlers to superstars’ status.

The sport kept growing both in quality and quantity. With each season turning out to be better than the previous, the constant success was intoxicating. Well, who doesn’t love winning? And the expectations of bigger and better results only swelled. While the sport isn’t down in the dumps, the last two years have certainly been disappointing after the high of Thomas Cup triumph in 2022 and three medals at the Asian Games in September-October 2023.   

The Olympic medal remained elusive, top names struggled with form and fewer titles were won. For a sport that appeared to be a flagship event for India at big international meets, the sudden dip is concerning if not alarming yet.     

Last year, except for the two titles (French Open, Thailand Open) won by the men’s doubles duo of Satwik-Chirag, a title each for Sindhu, Sen in the women’s and men’s singles respectively and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand in women’s doubles - all at the Syed Modi India International - it was largely a barren period for India, aspiring to be a super power in the sport.  

But Vimal, former-player-turned-coach, isn’t too bothered by the lack of results. 

“I think badminton is still going through a good phase. The popularity of the sport is on an all-time high,” reckons the 62-year-old Dronacharya awardee. 

“Look, dominating the world stage is an on and off cycle. Indonesia went through this phase, China is going through it, the Koreans weren’t spared nor were the Danes. Every country goes through such phases where the titles become hard to come by. But that shouldn’t be the only metric to judge progress. 

“We have just started doing well. Winning the Thomas Cup (in 2022) was a big thing. When I was playing in the 80s and the 90s, and represented India at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, it was considered huge because I became an Olympian. Fast-forward to 30 years, we have reached a phase now, in general, where we express regret at not getting a medal,” points out Vimal. 

The excellent results made way for exponential growth of the sport in the country. Children enrolling for local tournaments increased to 1000s from 100s, multiple coaching centres have opened up across the nation and increased funding has enlarged the talent pool. However, a lack of vision by an authority in streamlining all of it to nurture the next set of champions is proving to be a thorn in the flesh, feels Aparna. 

“We need to get our system right. There is a lot happening and somebody needs to lead this act. Someone has to sit in a firm leadership position and make calls and be accountable for it,” says the two-time Olympian.  

“It can’t be democratic, little things can be but the decisions cannot always be. I’m not saying this from a controversial point of view but I think somebody has to take charge. Let’s understand this, from identifying talent to getting them to be high performers is a very long process. It’s not a given. Taking them to the international level is one thing, but to make them win, requires a special kind of planning.” 

It could be the best time for the powers that be to rethink and revise the management of the sport. For, the next Olympic cycle (Los Angeles 2028) has just started and the Indian performance at the five completed events on the BWF Tour in this season hasn’t created a spark.

While Satwik-Chirag have managed to reach the last-four stage twice, a second-round loss in the German Open has been Sen’s, the top-ranked Indian male currently at 10, best result. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu (still India’s top female singles player at 15 in the world) and young Unnati Hooda (WR 55) have only managed to go as far as the quarterfinals in different events. If the season for the ninth-ranked women’s doubles pair of Treesa and Gayatri started off on a slow note, the 25th-ranked mixed doubles duo of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto entered the German Open semifinal before being knocked out. 

Another news making headlines was former World No. 1 men’s singles player Srikanth (currently ranked 45), who led India to their maiden Thomas Cup win, being dropped from the central government’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). It created a bit of a flutter but Aparna opines otherwise. 

Lakshya Sen is yet to realise his full potential.

“Reputation means less than form and performance. That is the reality of sport. This goes for not one particular player, but anybody. Being in these schemes should not be looked on as a prestige, ego or so on and so forth.

“Objectively, what do you want to do? I’m not playing well, what do I need to do? Solve that problem. The kind of talent he (Srikanth) has, we rarely come across such talent. The current phase (we are in) isn’t about the players per se, but they also need to take some accountability to perform and get their act together beyond a point,” she says.  

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have performed consistently.

As the sport looks ahead, the question remains: Who will step up to take the baton forward? The sport has come too far to let momentum slip, and now is the time for the next generation to embrace the challenge and script a new chapter in India’s badminton legacy.