Till a few years ago, India were ranked among the top badminton-playing nations in the world, with the likes of P.V. Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal securing golds regularly at multiple events, including the Olympics.
However, over the past two years, India has failed to secure any major title or a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The downtrend started when former world No. 2 Sindhu suffered an injury in 2023 and has since struggled to regain her peak level after returning to the court in 2024. She also got married recently, reported AFP. There appears to be no replacement for her, with shuttlers Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap and Ashmita Chaliha yet to make a mark on the BWF World Tour.
India has a long history of producing top players, but now the pipeline seems to have dried up, despite the country having two academies in Hyderabad and Bengaluru run by former All-England champions.
At the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in China this month, India were eliminated in the quarter-final against an average Japan side.
Similarly, at the India Open Super 750, only the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made it to the semi-final.
India’s top men’s singles players Srikanth and H.S. Prannoy are ageing. The young Lakshya Sen has been inconsistent, and also faces an age fabricating case, reported The Indian Express.
Emerging talents such as Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat have shown promise, but they remain far from the level required to truly challenge the top players.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has appointed former Indonesian player and noted coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama to lift the standard of the women players – but it could take a while for results to come.
With the 2028 Olympics coming up, the BAI has to look into the development issues and come up with a winning strategy – and soon.
