Focus on depth with Olympics in mind

BAI Secretary General Sanjay Mishra feels the sport needs proper systems in place to create a big pool of players

- INDRANEEL DAS

LIKE boxing, badminton was a major disappointment for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The sport that had fetched a medal at all Olympics since Saina Nehwal's bronze in 2012 London Olympics (followed by PV Sindhu's silver and bronze) failed to deliver in Paris. The most heartbreaking moment was the loss of Lakshya Sen in the bronzemedal playoff.

It was so disheartening that India legend and coach Prakash Padukone couldn't help but say that even the players should take responsibility, especially after they have been given every possible help by all stakeholders like the Sports Authority of India (SAI) national federation, academies. India's fabled men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Sindhu and others faltered. Barring the spark that Lakshya Sen displayed, there was not much to cheer about.

As the dust of Olympic disillusionment is settling down, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has already started their assessment. The BAI would not want to dwell much on the past results as their primary motive would be to focus on the future - the 2028 and the 2032 Olympics. They would want to put a proper system in place and rectify the mistakes. Their endeavour would be to nurture young talents, who could be a natural replacement for seniors as and when they move out. The ongoing BWF Super 750 event is an apt reflection. Without top players like Sindhu, Lakshya giving it a miss, the Indian players in the draw did not do well. Almost all exited in the first round. There is a serious lack of depth and the next gen players have not been good enough to fill in the shoes of the likes of Sindhu or Kidambi Srikanth.