There is a gentle storm brewing in Indian badminton and the worst part is people who matter are turning a blind eye to it.
To cut a long story short, what happened with the National camp for Indian badminton during the last one month in Hyderabad is nothing but a charade. The people responsible for it are the Badminton Association of India, the Sports Authority of India and national coach P.Gopichand himself.
In the end, when the camp became a farce and players did not show up citing COVID-19 quarantine protocol restrictions and so on, it showed the deep rot which has set in. The bigger farce was teams being named for the Thomas and Uber Cups with no trials, thus depriving many young players of a chance to showcase their skills.
For those who are well versed with the politics and intrigue of the SAI Gopichand Academy, there has been churning for long. The first sign of it came in 2014, when Saina Newhal stormed out. Saina went to Bengaluru, trained with Vimal Kumar for a while before the Incheon Asian Games and then returned again to Hyderabad after almost a year .
Perhaps, the authorities, SAI and BAI, should have smelt a rat at that time itself. They did not and more politics was created, though few are willing to talk about it. To be sure, Gopichand, the former All England champion has a larger than life image.
He is the be all and end all in Indian badminton for many, though if one talks to coaches and others who have worked or trained there in Hyderabad, the stories are quite different. That Gopi, the national coach is also the secretary of the Telangana badminton association is also a clear case of conflict of interest.
Ideally, a national coach should be focussing just on the talent pool for training and producing champions. Yes, he has been part of the success journey of Saina Nehwal, bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympics and PV Sindhu, 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist and also the world champion of 2019.
But something has gone wrong now. Saina does not want to train under Gopi and she feels she can do better under the wings of husband Parupalli Kashyap. This is not something new, Saina made this clear since the time she got married last year.
Then comes Sindhu, the superstar of Indian badminton who does not spend the same time as before at the SAI Gopichand academy. At first, it was a secret, Sindhu and Gopi were not meeting eye to eye. The tall and athletic Sindhu decided she needed a different kind of training programme.
As one who spends long hours on her fitness, speed, stamina and endurance, Sindhu chose to start training at the Suchitra Academy in Hyderabad, which has six courts. Word has it that Sindhu’s trough training, which includes weights, speed drills and much more, is monitored by physio Srikanth, a former athlete who also trains Andhra Pradesh Ranji Trophy players. He is well versed with all the aspects a players like Sindhu needs to be working on. He has qualified himself  well with certificates from Australian institutes.
Many knowledgeable coaches have suggested to Sindhu that she needs to work maximum on her legs, as that is most important in long matches. Sindhu’s workout drills are supposed to be killing and she only comes to the SAI academy for her badminton drills later and sparring later.
There, too, Sindhu has been working more with South Korean Park Tae-Sang for over a year. It is no secret the SAI Gopichand academy has enjoyed full patronage from the government with few questions asked. However, not many would be aware, the foreign coaches who have worked in the academy also deserve credit for shaping the careers of Indian badminton superstars. Coaches have come and gone, and nobody thought it fit to ask why they were leaving.
Today, a situation has come when one could well ask Gopichand who are the next champions in the assembly line who can one day replace Saina and Sindhu after their peak is over. There is no clue as to which is the development squad being groomed, capable of delivering medals in the next Olympic cycle, which includes 2024 and 2028.
There are complaints about the food being provided as well in the academy, where the menu is said to be repetitive and boring. Apparently, some top players are now even procuring their own supplements!
The SAI, which usually monitors its centres tightly like in Patiala and Bengaluru has not done the same thing with the badminton academy. There is a residential wing which has been created and remains under-utilised. That is one reason why the national camp never took place this time. It is the tax payers’ money which goes into this academy. So, why should it not be monitored?
