CHENNAI: No phones after 9:30 pm, mandatory rule to reside at the hostel even for locals, no ordering outside food from apps like Zomato and Swiggy. No unnecessary contacts with parents (emergencies are exceptions). Those are some of the diktats trainees at the National Centre of Excellence (NCE) at Guwahati have to strictly abide by if they want to pursue their dreams.
While it's still early days and the budding talents, regarded as the best at their ages, are still getting accustomed to their routines, Badminton Association of India's (BAI) plan is crystal clear — try and inculcate discipline across the board in a gradual manner and build a system that will help the country forge champion shuttlers in the near future.
Given the culture, it's an ambitious project. BAI are well-aware of the size of the tasks at their hands. They are even expecting plenty of pushbacks from players, parents etc. They are looking to take a leaf out of renowned football manager Jurgen Klopp's book, which he practised during his Liverpool years. Turn potential doubters into believers through results on the court.
BAI could not have hoped for better start during the BWF World Junior Championships at the same venue as the country's top talents, including a bunch of trainees from NCE, produced the country's best-ever show during the mixed team event while Tanvi Sharma, who's considered to be one of the brightest prospects in the country, showed her aptitude to become a top-level player by helping the country fetch a silver medal in the individual competition.
The idea of putting strict rules might sound a bit overwhelming at first but BAI has a solid premise to enforce such rules. For instance, the idea of residing at the hostel is to ensure that the trainees maintain a healthy diet and rest. BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra, in an interaction with select media during the world junior meet, explained the thought-process behind the rules. "If you have a morning training session and you go home and do something, we won't know. For the second session, you need rest and your body should be ready for that. Proper diet, proper rest and next session. Once you go home, whether you attend a wedding or visit a mall, we won't know. After one week, a player might suffer an injury since he/she didn't take proper rest. So, it's mandatory for the players."
At present, the top-notch national centre at North Guwahati can currently house 48 students. The BAI is looking to increase that number to 100 within the next three, four months.
In the near future, the national body is also hopeful of NCE-like centres in more states. A streamlined centralised system where BAI has total authority over the centres for smooth outcome. In fact, Mishra revealed that a few states have already shown interests to that idea.
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India have been overly reliant on a few big names over the years. It was sort of a golden generation with Saina Newhal, PV Sindhu and men shuttlers like Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy breaking numerous barriers, leaving a benchmark for those to follow. With the ageing stars' diminishing returns, the federation, acknowledging their immense contribution, seems to have accepted the hard reality and have been gradually shifting their attention on young talents to take up the mantle in the coming years.
"Our main focus is juniors. Already, Sindhu has contributed a lot, Prannoy also did a lot. Lakshya, I think, we'll probably get more results from him for the next four/five years. Srikanth also did a lot, becoming the World No 1. At the moment, we want the current junior batch to rise to that level in the next two-three years. Our bench strength should be good.
"These juniors should perform at the senior level. The current seniors, gradually, in the next two, three years might find it difficult to perform. We might not get big results from them. They have already given us plenty of massive results. Be it Sindhu or Prannoy. We still have high expectations from Lakshya. He, hopefully, will go on to get some big results."
With some of the established names still pushing hard, BAI has to tread carefully before they call for wholesale changes. One thing that BAI is clear about is not putting undue pressure on anyone. "You can't change a system, be it any system, overnight. Sindhu, Srikanth, Prannoy, who have been playing for so long, we suddenly can't ask them to stop. Whatever we're getting from them, we might not get that as well."
Citing China — the gold standard of the sport — as example, BAI wants to build a strong pool of young talents.
"China hosted the World Junior Championships last year, the system they have is such that we can beat their player but we can't beat their system. They are so far ahead. In their system, one player might lose, but you'll get 100s of players who'll be ready within one year. Last year, the team they had prepared for world junior, they were playing at the European circuit, tournaments in India within one year. Their 50 players, the group they have, is already preparing for the LA Olympics. It's because they have a system in place.
"Here (in India), it's impossible. Either one player will say they can't come here or go there. If we try to be strict, we get some form of pressure. So slowly, slowly we are trying to get there. The NCE system we have, if we get the results then maybe people will start being on the same page. We can't pressure people. But if we get the results, maybe people will start being more accepting and be more supportive."
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Having gotten positive feedback from the world body (BWF), the BAI's next big project, in terms of hosting events, is the senior World Championships which is set to be held at IG Stadium in New Delhi next year. It is the same 25000-capacity venue which was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons earlier this year. The focus had turned to unhygienic conditions at the venue after Mia Blichfeldt's complaints on social media. Having gotten assurances from BWF, Mishra said the Sports Authority of India is currently handling the renovation process and they're expecting things to be in place before the Grade 1 event which is scheduled to be held in August, 2026.
"The India Open will be sort of a test event ahead of the World Championships. So it will be held there. In case there are any shortcomings during the India Open, the BWF has said this will be more like a test event and we'll ensure everything is fine before the Worlds," Mishra said.
Since India has ambitions to host the Summer Games in the near future, BAI said every stakeholder involved is aiming to eradicate the flaws.
"The floors are uneven, the false ceiling was pretty damaged, the VIP seats were broken, but it has been changed. Washrooms, the European countries are generally concerned about that, lack of cleanliness and smell. So we have already worked on that but we're thinking of making a total change. We are having dialogues with the concerned authorities and the work is on. The SAI has been doing all the work at the moment. If there's anything pending, we'll also do what we can. SAI has been really supportive. The Government of India is also like if we get any major event, we'll give our 100 per cent as we're targetting 2036 Olympics. So we'll do our best."
Results, as is the case across professions, will be the ultimate currency, the defining factor that could decide the future. Given the current state of Indian badminton, this system that the BAI is looking to put in place could be the way forward.
