Players,coaches should gird up to avoid blues
Indian badminton is struggling. If 2022 was a watershed moment with some astonishing results (the men’s team won the Thomas Cup, for example), this year’s performance chart has hit a trough. It is caught in the net of despair, especially in singles. Consistency is missing from its lexicon. In the top five competitions this year, including at All-England, Indian singles players have made early exits. From a career-high ranking of No 6, Lakshya Sen has moved out of the top 20. After a modest season, he had taken a short break. Multiple Olympic and World Championships medallist P V Sindhu has had a disappointing start after coming back from injury. She has lost to lower-ranked players not just once but numerous times. Parting ways with coach Park Tae-sang has complicated things. Former world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth has also begun the year with three first-round exits and is now No 23 in the world rankings.
H S Prannoy, the in-form player going into the new season, has had a quiet start. With rivals from other nations also stepping up, Prannoy has yet to find his rhythm. The only bright spot has been the doubles—men’s pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and women’s young Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. Coached by Mathias Boe, Chirag and Sawtwiksairaj have had their share of injuries, but those disruptions have not stopped them from playing consistent badminton. Treesa and Gayatri beat some higher-ranked opponents to reach the All England semis.
All stakeholders—the Badminton Association of India and Sports Authority of India, who are in touch with TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) athletes and players—must devise a concrete plan ahead of important events. The Olympic Qualification Period starts with sanctioned BWF events from May 1 and will continue till April 2024.
There have been frosty relationships between players and coaches. BAI is looking for a foreign coach in doubles. Sindhu is looking for one too. It is not ideal when a player changes coach before a big event. With the Asian Games, considered tougher than the Olympics in badminton, slated for later this year, there is no time. With the OQP beginning in less than two weeks, there has to be a drastic upturn in fortunes for India to have a maximum available quota in Paris.