Focus on system and youth: BAI's way forward

During the recent World Jr C’ships, BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra discussed about the significance of having a system in place their goals of pushing junior shuttlers to prominence

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No phones after 9:30 pm, mandatory rule to reside at the hostel even for locals, no ordering 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 produce champion shuttlers in the near future.

Given the culture, it's an ambitious project. BAI are wellaware 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.

Ex ឥត Sp 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 showed her aptitude to become a toplevel player by helping the country fetch a silver medal in the individual competition.