KOCHI: Alleging nepotism in the selection of the Indian badminton squad for the 2018 Asian Games, two shuttlers on Monday approached the Kerala High Court against the Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) decision to leave them out from the national squad. The petition was filed by Aparna Balan and K P Sruthi and The court has issued a notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and BAI. The court will consider the case on July 9.
In the petition, the Kerala doubles pair alleged both the BAI and national coach Pullela Gopichand had tinkered with the selection process to include the latter’s daughter in the national squad for the Jakarta Asian Games to be held in August. The team for the Asian Games does not have any reserve players for the doubles event but the association has instead opted for three singles players for the singles event.
This was done only to ensure the inclusion of Gopichand’s daughter Gayatri in the squad, the petition stated.
The Asian Games is to be held in Jakarta and Palemban in Indonesia from August 18. The Indian contingent consists of 10 women players and 10 men players. A participating country is permitted to send three players for the singles event and two teams for the doubles.