Despite domestic competitions being the backbone of the Indian sports ecosystem, top stars often forget about them. Even the mighty BCCI had to give a diktat to cricketers to play in them.
It looks like the Badminton Association of India (BAI) will do the same. After the performance of the best players in the 2017 and 2018 editions, the National Senior Championships returned to the role of a training ground. BAI Secretary Sanjay Mishra, however, stated that this may change soon.
“Probably from next year the National Championships will be mandatory,” he said on Thursday. “This year, the best players took part in many tournaments. And some of them are injured. So we didn’t force any (of them to participate).”
A vacancy at the end of the season could have discouraged participation, but Mishra explained that the dates could not be changed as the BWF calendar did not leave room. “As a player you can win the BWF Super 100, Super 300… but domestic Badminton National Championships to probably be mandatory from next season: BAI secretary means your name has gone down in history!” he added.
BAI recently appointed Malaysian Tan Kim Hera as the successor to Mathias Boe, India’s doubles coach for Paris 2024. Mishra expressed hope that the 53-year-old, who worked in India between 2015 and 2019, could secure the elusive doubles podium.
“Not just Satwik [sairaj Rannkireddy] and Chiraga [Shetty]… there are three or four good doubles and mixed pairs,” he explained. “Gayatri [Gopichand] and Treesa [Jolly] they are now 11. They are Dhruv [Kapila] and Tanisha [Crasto]Ashwini [Ponnappa] and Tanisha etc. So we expect another Olympic medal, not only in singles.”
