KOCHI: With one among the five Arjuna award-designates from Kerala being a badminton player, a certain degree of attention has again fallen on the racket sport in the state. But the first Kerala shuttler to have received this prestigious recognition, George Thomas, is unsure of the longevity of this renewed attention.
He recollected an incident etched in his memory to drive home his point: When the torch relay for the Delhi edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2010 reached Kerala, the then sports minister M Vijayakumar addressed a gathering to erroneously announce that only two sportspersons from the state — longjumpers Anju Bobby George and Suresh Babu — had ever won medals in the CWG till then.
George, who was part of the Indian badminton team that won a silver in the 1998 Kuala Lampur CWG and received the Arjuna in 2001, said that episode bore testimony to how unpopular the game and the people associated with it were in the state.
“In Kerala, such games largely mean athletics. Badminton or any other sport, besides cricket and football for that matter, is overlooked here,” he said.
Citing Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s visit to Sanju Samson’s house after the youngster was named in the Indian team for the tour of England, George said, “I don’t think anybody in the government even called P C Thulasi, after the Indian team she was part of won a historic bronze for the first time in this year’s Uber Cup. That is like the World Cup in (women’s) badminton,” he added.
For George, currently working with BPCL as Chief Manager in Kochi, most of his life so far has been devoted to badminton. He picked it up as a kid in Odisha, where his father used to play the game with him after work at the Birla Paper House. And he stuck to it till he realised his dream of representing the country as a badminton player. Along the way, came national titles, a CWG medal and an Arjuna.
He said badminton attained prominence in India after Prakash Padukone won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 1980. “But it became a priority sport after (Pullela) Gopichand claimed the same championship in 2000 and with the emergence of players like Saina (Nehwal) and (P V) Sindhu... However, in Kerala the sport’s growth is still a question mark.”
The state, he said, did not have proper training centres for youngsters. “Any good, young player will eventually have to go to either Hyderabad or Bangalore for coaching.”
A major reason why a lot of talented youngsters have to move out is the sport’s lack of mass appeal in Kerala, George said.
“So it is natural for young players to leave Kerala and go somewhere they are likely to get recognition.”
George Thomas
Born: Chengannoor, Alappuzha
Major achievements
1991: National champion, men’s singles
1993: National champion, men’s doubles
1991: French Open, singes and doubles
1997: Asian Satellite Championship silver medal
1998: Commonwealth Games silver medal
2001: Arjuna Award
1991-1994: Indian team captain
2006-07: National coach