Despite being the bedrock of the Indian sporting ecosystem, domestic competitions often get the short shrift from the biggest stars. Even the mighty BCCI had to issue a diktat to cricketers to play in them.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) looks set to do the same. After featuring the top players in the 2017 and 2018 editions, the Senior National Championship has gone back to being a training ground. But BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra stated that this could soon change.
“Probably from next year, National Championships will be mandatory,” he said on Thursday. “This year, top players have had a lot of tournaments. And some of them are injured. So we didn’t force any (of them to participate).”
READ: Badminton Senior Nationals: Karnataka beats Railways to clinch men’s title, Haryana wins women’s final
The end-of-the-season slot may have disincentivised participation, but Mishra clarified that the dates couldn’t be changed because the BWF calendar left no room. “As a player, you may win BWF Super 100, Super 300… but a National Badminton National Championships to probably be mandatory from next season: BAI secretary means your name is in history!” he added.
BAI recently appointed Malaysian Tan Kim Her as a replacement for Mathias Boe, India’s doubles coach until Paris 2024. Mishra expressed hope that the 53-year-old, who worked in India from 2015 to 2019, can deliver the elusive doubles podium finish.
“Not just Satwik [sairaj Rannkireddy] and Chirag [Shetty]… there are three or four good doubles and mixed doubles pairs,” he explained. “Gayatri [Gopichand] and Treesa [Jolly] are now 11th. There are Dhruv [Kapila] and Tanisha [Crasto], Ashwini [Ponnappa] and Tanisha etc. So we are expecting the next Olympic medal not just in singles.”
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