Interview with Jayesh Ranjan: Just like China, India is producing great champions who are leaving a legacy, one at a time

Mr. Jayesh Ranjan (IAS), Principal Secretary of the Industries and Commerce and Information and Technology, Telangana Government is actively promoting and pushing the sports culture in the city. His active participation and sheer enthusiasm brought him down to witness the Grand Finale of the All India Sub Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament that concluded recently at the Pullela Gopichand Academy. 

Our Chief Guest and key mentor shares his words of wisdom on growing popularity of badminton, emergence of new players and overall sports culture in Hyderabad in an exclusive interview with GoBadminton.

How do you feel are the emerging players evolving and improving their performance through initiatives like All India Sub Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament among others?

India, as we all know has grown multifold and badminton has become a major sport in the sporting arena. Just like China, great players are leaving a legacy and we have a pipeline of emerging talent stepping into their shoes to continue the assembly line and it’s a functional factory, one after another, champions are produced. Training academies like Gopichand where we are right now, the players are coached and trained to play competitive high-quality tournaments where the best talent in the age category will help us separate the champions from the rest is indeed a major milestone we have achieved through such tournaments and initiatives.

What do you think is Hyderabad becoming a hub of badminton with Hyderabad Open’18 also taking place and many major badminton related events occurring here?

Hyderabad has the distinction of hosting the BWF World Championships and with BWF hosting again in the city, it’s a matter of great pride and honor for all of us. It’s not just restricted to badminton but the overall sporting culture that has mushroomed. Thanks to the large number of academies and training centres that have paved a way to the emerging athletes. Whenever the PBL (Premier Badminton League) starts, I get startled with the enthusiasm and passion for the sport and I regularly go to watch the tournament LIVE in the stadium.

Are we also trying to promote badminton in other parts of the country?

Eventually, we have a limitation in the number of the top sports coaches in the country. For Ex. Gopichand is the best currently but he can’t be present in 20 odd cities at a time. Academies are running and functioning in different parts of the country already, even in the remote cities of India. However, the top most and best players should come together in Hyderabad to get the exclusive mentorship by the best coach in the country for an enhanced performance and better productivity in the game.