India to be badminton superpower at Olympics 2020: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Newly elected BAI President, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had started to work quick on his responsibilities. In the month of May at the conclave organised by BAI, he had announced the upgradation of five Centers of Excellence by the end of the year and talked about age fraud, team selection, dearth of infrastructure and lack of participation of top players in domestic circuit.

After the sudden demise of former BAI President, Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, Himanta Biswa Sarma took the charge. Speaking to PTI, Sarma focussed much on the importance of building ‘favourable eco-system’ in the country.

“BAI fraternity is looking for an Olympic gold, so we have prepared a roadmap taking into consideration all the views of top players, coaches and also taking the game to grassroot,” said Sarma.

Talking about the badminton centers in India, Sarma determined on spreading badminton centers to the places in the country rather than sticking to only one center. Sarma said BAI has formed a committee to standardize the national academy (Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad) and plans to set up five new academies across the four zones and Northeast by the end of this year.

“We have spoken on the upgradation of the centers, one each from north, west, east and the north east, which will probably be completed by the end of this year,” he said.

“We need to standardize the national academy in the country because all players cannot travel to Hyderabad to train,” he said.

“What I understood is if a player from Northeast have to stay in Hyderabad then he has to change his entire culture, food habit and also stay away from parents, so today a committee has been formed.

“This committee will set a standard as what a national academy looks like. Then we will work with the govt. of India and state government to get at least five centers to that level and BAI will get coaches and other support system. If the top coaches like Mohd. Arif and Vimal Kumar can travel and oversee then it will be great. That is what we plan to do.

He added saying, “Our earlier system will not work. Badminton is the most popular game, and we can't afford to have a laid-back attitude. We have to have forward thinking and we are determined to change our system. Our approach has to change according to the changing colors of the game. Our administration has to be in tune with the progress of the game.”

“We have discussed with the players about the issue. If Saina or Sindhu or Srikanth can play in say Srinagar or Patna or Guwahati that will create a lot of positive impact for the games because they are not only players but role models,” Sarma said.

“So the players have agreed in principle but you have to look at their international calendar. So today a decision has been taken that the players will discuss among themselves and suggest us a calendar where they can be seen more in domestic circuit.

“We want to bring the top players to the centres for competitive matches and not for an odd exhibition match, where our budding talents can learn from them.” Speaking to PTI about the possibility of ascending the teams of Premiere Badminton League, he said,

“Some court cases are pending with the erstwhile IBL, but once those are settled, we can expand the PBL to the north east. A team from north east isn't a problem. We can develop players back home.”

“BAI will have a very liberal approach towards players from now on. Even the top players feel we should not stop anyone from competing. If we stop them, then these court cases emerge,” he added.

On asking about the double players and their complaints, Sarma acquiesced with affirmation, “Yes doubles players have a complaint. Suppose they say that their pairs are changed overnight without our approval. They allege that even if both the players are ready to play together, suddenly the pair is changed. You want to change the team, please do that but only after proper counseling and giving a proper reason for the change.”

He added, “Doubles does not get due importance. We have to take care of it. A chain of academies, with the same standard should be located across the country. It is difficult for a north player to adjust to the conditions in Hyderabad, and it is the same for a south player in the north.”

“We have to select the team early, so that the players who are not in the team and are not funded by BAI or govt. and still wants to travel can do it without any issue. We now impose fine on them and it has to change.

He added saying, “Another issue is that of insurance. We want to have good insurance scheme for the players so that if a player gets injured and is out of long time it can be of some help.” Stressing on the importance of the use of services of retired players, Sarma said: “Around 200 players play in different levels and once they leave active sport they want to still contribute.

This huge talent pool has to be utilized for betterment of the game.”