In Saina’s shadow

The career of current India number 2,Aditi Mutatkar,followed a similar path. The 22-year-old was at her best in 2008 when she reached a Grand Prix final and followed that up with two GP semis. She reached her career-best ranking of 27 and was looking good to move further up before she was stopped in her tracks by a recurring knee injury. Two surgeries later,she still hasn’t fully recovered. Ranked 44 now,her career threatens to go into the same downward spiral that Murgunde’s did.

The two make a good contrast with Saina Nehwal. The girl credited for putting badminton back into focus in the country made the world top 5 cut at age 20. For India,who qualified for their first Uber Cup finals next month,however,the team event needs more than just one name to carry all their hopes,and a second-string capable of shrugging off that tag. For,unlike tennis,where Sania Mirza was giant steps ahead of her compatriots,the badminton field suggests there is hope.

Murgunde and Mutatkar,along with Sayali Gokhale,Gayatri Vartak and Neha Pandit,the four much over-shadowed shuttlers who will take part in the Asian Badminton Championship in New Delhi from Monday,agree that it is up to them to train harder and improve on their weaknesses,but add that a little external help — and some reflected sunshine — would go a long way too.

Player complaints

“The focus should be on the next rung of players and not restricted to just one,” says Murgunde,the reigning national champion,who feels that she would have been playing a different level of badminton had she been guided on the right course of treatment at the proper time. “My back injury was delicate and persisted for a good nine years. During that time I consulted many doctors but all of them suggested I go under the knife,which wasn’t an option,before physiotherapy helped me. However,I lost out on a lot of training time and this affected my career greatly,” she says.

Mutatkar echoes these sentiments,as she did not receive as much as even a phone call from anyone from the federation during her time of crisis. She,too,consulted a number of specialists but couldn’t find a permanent solution to her knee problem,before the Indian hockey team physios came to her rescue. Today,she is close to being a hundred per cent fit and is working towards a good performance in the Asian Badminton Championships in Delhi from April 12. She too feels uncared for by the federation. “If I quit tomorrow,I am sure the BAI won’t say anything,” she says.

Counterpoint

There is another view though,one shared by Indian badminton’s three biggest names.

Aparna Popat,former India No 1 and Olympian,feels that it is imperative that the federation stands fully behind Nehwal without confusing priorities so that Indian badminton stays in the limelight. “In the past,when the federation paid attention to all and sundry,outstanding players got ignored to some extent and Indian badminton never really took off. Today,when we have a player like Saina working her socks off and achieving milestones at a young age we should give her all the support she needs,” she says.

Pulella Gopichand,the national coach,also follows an individualistic approach. According to him,players need to work harder on their own to achieve results. “There are two basic differences between Saina and the rest — speed and strength. Players need to train harder in order to bridge the gap. They need to reach that level where they play more challenging tournaments. They need to take care of their own fitness and plan their tournament schedules in a better way,” said the former All England champion.

Prakash Padukone agrees with Gopichand that individuals need to take more responsibility. “Aditi needs to improve on her finishing. She needs to move faster on the court and hit harder. She is very injury prone and hence needs to plan her tournament schedule in a better way. Trupti is also injury prone and needs to work a lot on her stamina. Sayali and Neha both need to work on their strength and speed,” he says. “All these players have a good technique but lack in the fitness department. They all need to improve physically. They need to work on their speed and strength.”

No clear solution?

Punnaiah Choudhary,joint secretary,Badminton Association of India,admits that with the country entering the top echelons and badminton creating a buzz,the next rung needs to be sturdied and the depth extended. “It is very important that we develop the second string. We want a good performance in the Uber Cup,” he says,adding,“We are looking especially at Sayali Gokhale and Sikki Reddy and expect great performances from them in the future.”

One of the problems is that the shuttlers’ needs are varied,and there can be no blanket solutions to their issues — as can be judged from what they themselves say.

Neha Pandit — ranked 81 in the world — feels hiring a top-level psychologist is the need of the hour. “The main difference (between Saina and the second rung) is the mental aspect,” she says.

Sayali Gokhale — ranked 57 — feels that the difference lies in the quality of exposure. “In order to reach Saina’s level,we need to receive the same kind of exposure she gets. We should be persisted with at the highest level of tournaments whether we win or lose so that we gain from the experience,” says the 22-year-old who came to prominence after her national title two years ago,and played some crucial matches during India’s Uber Cup qualification campaign. Sayali and Trupti both agree that talent should be tapped at age 13 or 14,players should be sponsored and given enough exposure at an early age — just as was done with Saina.

Mutatkar,on the other hand,says that if injured players are well taken care of,there will be nothing to stop them from reaching the top.

Murgunde is of the view that a high performance rehab centre will do wonders for international players. “All Indian players have different requirements and need personal attention. This is bound to happen in a High Performance Centre,” she says.

Popat feels a high-performance centre couldn’t do any harm,but that the players themselves could do their bit by following Saina’s lead by training sensibly. “The difference is that the second rung have not taken the opportunity when it was given to them,” Popat says. “Aditi and Trupti lost out on the opportunity because of injury but the fact that they got injured itself tells you that their training was not conducted properly.”

Choudhary himself feels there’s no need of a high-performance centre at the moment. “Players’ injuries should be taken care of by their employers. If at any point their employers are not in a position to offer them help then we,the federation,will definitely step in. We have a physio in Hyderabad to take care of injuries. The players can also approach the physio appointed by the Sports Authority of India in Bangalore.”

Domestic structure

The starting point seems evident though. The all-round development of any sport also demands a strong domestic system and the collective opinion of badminton players is that there are too few domestic tournaments.

Murgunde feels that’s because Indian badminton is caught in a vicious circle. “While there are sponsors ready to host domestic tournaments,they want India’s big players to take part. But with our hectic international schedule,that is not possible. Most of the time,that means the tournaments don’t take place at all,” she says.

In the next 18 months,however,India is hosting five international tournaments in the space of 18 months,apart from two major ranking tournaments and one national championship. Choudhary hopes the second-rung can grab those opportunities with both hands.

After all,Saina Nehwal won’t mind a few Indian girls snapping at her heels.

Raising the bar
2010: Semi-final at All England,reaches world No 5
2009: Wins a Super Series title and reaches quarters at world championship,climbs to world No 6
2008: Wins GP Gold tournament,reaches Olympics quarters,starts year at world No 32,ends in top10
2007: Reaches pre-quarters at the All-England,enters final at the Macau and Dutch Open
2006: Wins Philippines Open
2005: Runner-up at the senior nationals,wins satellite tournament
2004: National junior champion,quarters at Asian Satellite
2003: Makes international debut,wins Junior Czech Open

Aditi Mutatkar,22

Junior High:Wins virtually all age group national titles. Reaches the women’s national final while still a junior.

Senior Low: Becomes world No. 27 as she follows her good showing at Challengers and Satellite events by reaching final of a Grand Prix. Dip in form coincides with a knee injury. Slips to No. 44 after series of dismal international outings.

Trupti Murgunde,27

Junior High: After winning the junior nationals,becomes a regular in the senior team.

Senior Low: Suffers serious back injury in between two SAF Games where she has won three gold medals. Misses most of 2009 because of injury. Trying to make a comeback after winning three Open events.

Gayatri Vartak,22

Junior High: After dominating national age-group tournaments,runner-up at junior Wimbledon.

Senior Low: Despite being a regular member of the senior team,has failed to make an impact in international tournaments.

Neha Pandit,22

Junior High: Runner-up in the National Games and Tata Open.

Senior Low: Becomes world No. 62 after making quarters at Australian GP,Toulouse Open and Thailand Challenger. Ranking slips to 81 after poor results last year.

Sayali Gokhale,23

Junior High: Youth Commonwealth Games silver medal,World Junior Championship quarter-final.

Senior Low: After reaching pre-quarters at Malaysia and Philippines,gets dropped from the core group of seniors because of loss of form. On a comeback after winning senior national title and improved show internationally.