HYDERABAD: For a fair amount of time now, badminton has been India’s go-to sport for international medals. Olympics, World Championship and events of every other hue, no other discipline has won so much for the country in recent times.
It would not be wrong to say that it all started with the exploits of the women. After Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa’s bronze at the 2011 World Championship, Saina Nehwal put India on the badminton map. Olympic bronze, World Championship silver, a number of Superseries titles, her cabinet has medals from almost all major competitions. So far ahead of the rest in the country she was that a second name took a long time to emerge.
Then came PV Sindhu and going by the silverware already in her collection and considering her age, she promises to do better than Saina. Olympic silver, two World Championship bronze medals, she is fast becoming a nemesis for top Chinese players.However, that’s where the supply has stopped, at least for the moment.
With the hitherto quiet men’s pool producing players who are threatening to change the world order, there is hardly anyone on the women’s side after the two Hyderabadis that the nation can rely on for success in international tournaments. The gap between these two and the next crop is glaring and alarming at the same time. The next best are probably Rituparna Das and Ruthvika S, who are yet to burst on to the big league, and none after them.
Rituparna and Ruthvika have tasted success here and there, but also been inconsistent and prone to injuries. Also, they haven’t played top shuttlers enough to be able to challenge them seriously.
“After Saina and Sindhu, the lack of depth in women’s singles is palpable. In a way, these girls get overshadowed by the big two. But the players should rise above this kind of competition. The problem is Ruthvika and Rituparna have been getting injured a lot, and that just brings everything to zero. You have to start all over again, which they haven’t been able to do,” Trupti Murugunde, a former women’s national champion and coach, told Express.
Countries that rule women’s badminton like China and Japan are way ahead of most others, because of the fact that they have ready replacements for top players, who can deliver the desired results in big tournaments. This is what Indian women’s badminton is lacking, after Saina and Sindhu.“We have Saina and Sindhu, but to be a superpower in the sport we need to have at least a pool of 15-20 players who can take over from them. We don’t have those kind of numbers. Having always advocated for a strong bench, I’m currently trying to work on that. But it’s a long process that might take years to reap benefits from,” said Trupti. “If you see our men’s team, they are doing well because they have a crop of players who can win anytime, anywhere. We need to have the same with the women’s team too.”
Trupti emphasised on the importance of fitness and strengthening programmes for potentially good players from the sub-junior category. That will ensure that these players are more aware of the physical demands of the international game.“We need to have a proper fitness programme in place, right from the very beginning, for women shuttlers. If we start early, by the time they reach the senior level, they’ll be ready to deal with injuries. The new federation president, Himanta Biswa Sarma, realises the importance of having a strong bench, and has started working on it,” Trupti concluded.
madhav@newindianexpress.com