The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Don't get carried away by the numbers

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Friday, Jun 08, 2007
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Sport - Badminton

Don't get carried away by the numbers

Stan Rayan

KOCHI: At summer camps, as a hundred new racquets flog the bird, badminton popularity appears to soar to a new high year after year. The playing halls are full. And junior National circuit tournaments attract nearly a thousand entries these days.

A casual look gives the impression that badminton is booming in the country. But don't get carried away by the numbers.

"Dropout is huge in badminton," said National coach P. Gopi Chand. "There is a big turn-out for tournaments such as these but after a few years hundreds of players are missing."

The problem is with the existing system — the stress on academics — and the existing infrastructure.

"We need good numbers in badminton. And there is a big problem in doubles," said the former All England champion on Wednesday evening during the Servo all-India junior tournament here.

"If you look at the men's doubles, a few years ago we had top players like Jaseel Ismail and Markose Bristow. After about a gap of seven years, the next bright bunch — Sanave, Rupesh and Diju — appeared on the scene.

"Now we have players like Shanker Gopan, Alwyn Francis and Arun Vishnu but the gap between the previous lot and this bunch is much bigger," he added.

The scene is more pathetic in the women's section. "We don't have any players," said the former World No. 4.

"We need good 19 to 20-year-olds. And coaches and players need to know how to train for doubles. Also, we should have long-term camps to groom good doubles players."

Five years ago, Sanave and Diju were among the world's top 15 in men's doubles. And among women, there was always talk that Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurien had the potential to be among the world's top ten. But the current state is quite different.

Bright scenario

However, things are rosy in men's singles. "Chetan Anand has the potential to get into the top 10 while players like Anup Sridhar, Anand Pawar, Ajay Jayaram, Arvind Bhat and Kashyap have a good chance to climb into the top 20 or even higher," said Gopi Chand.

About the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games, he said many countries, including Singapore, have now taken Chinese players to strengthen their team.

"Malaysia, England and Singapore should be giving us a tough fight in the Commonwealth Games," he said.

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