India has scaled a peak with its first-ever Thomas cup on Sunday. India registered this historic win by defeating Indonesia, the 14 times champions of the Thomas Cup, with 3-0 in the finals held in Bangkok, Thailand, denying them their 15th crown and registering their first-ever. Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, Lakshya Sen, and HS Prannoy led India to this mind-blowing win.
Among all of these, the most impressive, unblemished statements were added by the star player Srikanth when he was asked why it mattered in a day and age when the Thomas Cup didn't carry any prize money. He said "Today after people watched us, they said 'India won the Thomas cup' not that Srikanth won or Prannay won. But India won. Not everyone has the privilege to experience this feeling."
But this win should also remind you that it's first-ever. Why made India take so long to get this first-ever title? What are the reasons, even after consisting of enormously star players, then why India has been in the backlight in the previous years?
Lack of Coaches
Inadequate coaches in Indian badminton still raise the cause of concern. India's inadequate expenditure on the coaches is one of the causes of inconsistent wins and performance of the players. India's Legendary Badminton player Gopichand recounted in his essay 'GO' about the lack of coaches in Indian badminton. He pointed out that India's grave neglect in investing in top-quality coaches is still a cause of concern, in 2021. He also expressed concerns over the lack of coaches in another interview with the media in 2019.
PV Sindhu also in an interview with media that "lack of coaches not infrastructure biggest problem" in a conversation with the media in 2017. Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone also said that " there is a shortage of good badminton coaches in India" in the same year.
Saina Nehwal, another star player also lamented that " there is no problem on the infrastructure front, but there are not enough academies and coaches" in October 2016.
Well, the consistent pointing out about the lack of coaches by the players is the clear evidence that the crisis lies in the indian badminton.
Moreover, other problems lie in the financial aid to the players. B sai Parneeth, India's top-ranked men’s singles shutter, pointed out that the country hasn’t invested in a future line of talent in badminton. “Our second string of players, a lot of the juniors, who are ranked in the top-200 and 300 aren’t receiving enough support from the Badminton Association of India (BAI),” Praneeth was quoted saying by Firstpost in February 2022. Many players have to invest in their own expenses cost of traveling to any tournament abroad to take part in it is massive, and it easily runs into lakhs. There are flight tickets, accommodation, travel, tournament entry fees, and food amongst other things.
“What should I say about this!” says shuttler Sourabh Verma, who is counted among the top-30 India's badminton players. “It’s a challenge. Playing in international circuits without ranking in the top 30 can be difficult. Until you are in top 30, financial aid has to be met by yourself. That’s the way
The Badminton Association of India needs more funds and investment in the coaches. More financial aid has to disseminate to the players, especially the lower-ranked players. As they carry talents but financial aid is a hindrance to their performance as said by Sourabh Verma, India's other star badminton player.
Indeed this win will give a new rise to Indian badminton. However, problems also have to be looked at seriously. This win will mark a new triumph to the Indian badminton as the 1983 cricket world cup did the cricket indeed.
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