Saina Nehwal’s bronze in the 2012 London Olympics, P V Sindhu bringing home silver from Rio and Kidambi Srikanth moving to the top of the men’s singles rankings have been a few instances that have added value to sport’s image in the country.
The ever-widening talent pool demands constant attention and the Karnataka Badminton Association, along with other bodies, have been doing their bid to nurture talent. The KBA’s latest initiative is in hiring two Malaysian coaches -- Muhammad Roslin Bin Hashim and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif -- for a 40-day summer camp that began on April 20.
Former men’s singles World No 1 Roslin was in awe of the infrastructure available in the city and expressed his delight at being handed the opportunity to impart his experience to the youngsters.
“It’s been four days since we got here and so far the experience has been a real pleasure. It is really nice to see the sort of infrastructure available here. Hope we can help with all the expertise that we have.
“Players always need motivation and here (KBA) the facilities are enough to motivate players. You just have to focus on training and worry about nothing,” he added.
At the recent Commonwealth Games, India returned with their best tally of 10 medals and Roslin wasn’t surprised, stating that the Badminton Association of Malaysia had a lot to learn from their Indian counterparts.
“I wasn’t surprised that India beat Malaysia in the team event final. Here you have great facilities and that is the way forward for young players but back home there is no government aid for private facilities. Our association seemed surprised by that result but unless they listen to suggestions and make changes, nothing will get better.”
The Badminton World Federation, this year, had introduced a new service rule and made it compulsory for the top players in the world to participate in 12 Super-500, Super-750 and Super-1000 tournaments during the calendar year.
The duo was of the opinion that while it maybe strenuous for the players, having the best in the world participate in 12 or more tournaments would definitely serve up an opportunity for the younger breed to test themselves.
“It’s definitely a good move in my opinion,” said Zakary.
“Good for new players. You get to play against the bigger players. Something you could not have done in the past,” added Roslin.
But Roslin vehemently opposed the number of rule changes within the game voicing: “So many laws now. The players don’t seem to have the same freedom. BWF is killing badminton. They want to try making it like tennis. Changing the point system is something I don’t agree with. All these new rules are really killing the art of badminton.”
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