Start, restart… that is the path the badminton national camp, set to begin from Monday, is following. After months of inaction, the camp for elite shuttlers began, but not the way anyone would have envisaged. Perhaps, there were shades of similarity with the way the camp stopped — shrouded in controversy and layers of ambiguity. There was always this lingering doubt over the attitude of top players.
The Sports Authority of India had resumed the camp from August 7 at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad for eight elite shuttlers, after the state government gave its nod. PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponnappa, B Sai Praneeth, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and N Sikki Reddy were the names listed.
On the day the academy was forced to shut down after Sikki tested positive (she subsequently tested negative on Saturday), there were three shuttlers training — Sidhu, Sai Praneeth and Sikki herself. Others were training at their respective places. Chirag in Mumbai, his partner Satwiksairaj in Andhra. Ashwini, who partners Sikki, is currently training in Bengaluru. A few of them are likely to join by September.
There are requests from top shuttlers to be allowed to train alone. Even now.
In short, if the camp does continue, it will be for two or three players only, at least as of now. Srikanth is likely to join. A bunch of foreign and Indian coaches, including the chief national coach, are there at the academy. Not to mention the support staff. May be under the circumstances, it may seem reasonable. But then, this is not ideal.
Contrast this to the other national camps that SAI has managed to conduct. In NIS Patiala, elite boxers started their training after spending two weeks in quarantine and then entered a 'secure bubble'. Cycling is following the same protocol. Archery is set to follow suit. Not to mention the team sport of hockey, all of which are strictly adhering to SAI's SOP. Join the camp, stay quarantined and enter a bio-bubble for training.
Interestingly, shuttlers are not staying in a bio-secure environment. The academy does have space to accommodate players and coaches but the players have chosen to travel from home on a daily basis, which has increased the risk of infection. It’s time for SAI, in the absence of Badminton Association of India due to the sports ministry's derecognition, to put things into perspective. Whether everyone should be attending the camp in a secure environment or be allowed to travel from home or alone at different places with doubles players training individually? Is the camp just a facade or is it for real? Questions abound.
Somehow, this doesn't seem new. Over the years, as the sport and its stars grew, there have been numerous instances of players choosing to train alone without much consultation with the coaching staff. There have been examples of players missing training without the permission of a competent authority or even the chief coach! Sometimes, coaches don’t have much say in which tournaments players should be participating in. A slew of foreign coaches have left, complaining of indiscipline among players and constant interference. Even the chief national coach has been advocating the need for a system for all.
Stars in the game are increasing, so is the pool. Without guidelines and fixed responsibility, from players, coaches to selectors, the system will crumble. Both SAI and BAI, when it gets its recognition back, should work out clear policies without ambiguities. Who should be selecting the team and how much say does a coach have? Who should have the final say in determining a players' yearly competition calendar? Interference from family members, personal managers and various other agencies are some of the sore points that need to be addressed. The federation was planning to bring in stringent codes for the players soon but nothing seems to have been implemented.
A sport that has given numerous international accolades, including medals at the Olympics and World Championships, needs to be harnessed. And soon.