Shuttling to train

Last Sunday Indiarsquos menrsquos badminton team created history by winning the Thomas Cup title for the first time ever They beat 14time champion Indonesia with a score of 30 at the finals in Bangkok World Championships bronzemedallist Lakshya Sen doubles players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and world championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth spearheaded this victoryldquoThe boys had a very strong team this time and they were keener on winning They really wanted it and it showedrdquo says Simran Singhi who was part of the Indian womenrsquos team for the Uber Cup 2022 and ranks No 1 in the Senior Womenrsquos Doubles categoryThe reason for this rapport according to Olympic Gold Quest OGQcertified Manish Hadkar Head Coach at Global Badminton Academy Virar could be that most of the men train at the Badminton Association of Indiarsquos national centre in Hyderabad ldquoWomen hardly play in Hyderabadrdquo he says ldquoMost players from the team had trained in different states not training togetherrdquoSimran Singhi part of the team for Uber Cup 2022 says that there was some bonding but most players were new which made it difficult for them to jam as well as the menrsquos team PicSameer MarkandeSinghi confesses that not training together and the lack of comfort level affected her performance ldquoMy original partner was Ritika Thakkarrdquo she recalls ldquoand we had partnered for 10 years But they the coaches felt that I would combine better with Shruti Mishra That was a bit challengingrdquo She used to train at the Goregaon Sports Club but has moved to Hyderabad where she trains under an Indonesian coach Yonanthan Dasuki However whenever in the city she finds herself going back to her old courts Her reason to move to Hyderabad was ldquoThere are no players in Mumbai to play against There are good coaches but you need someone to play against and we donrsquot have players or a certain level in MumbairdquoAalisha Naik who represented Maharashtra in the 2018 Nationals also moved to Hyderabad earlier this month She felt that the city did not have enough women players Her training at Goregaon Sports Club under Hadkar and Uday Pawar was productive but the duration was short ldquoI would practise for three hours because of the restricting timingsrdquo says the 15yearold ldquowhen everyone else in the country was playing for around eight hours every day I was missing out on five hours thatrsquos why I moved This is a government facility in Hyderabad so I can practice more Everyone here plays at the national level there are more practice sessionsrdquoCoaches in the city collectively believe that the lack of infrastructure in terms of court availability pushes more and more young players to move away ldquoMumbairdquo says Uday Pawar an Asian Games medallist ldquowas considered the nursery of Indian badminton 4050 years ago That was because of the facilities provided by clubs the rest of the country lacked their quality But the infrastructure in Mumbai has not improved at all for indoor sports over the years while cities such as Hyderabad Bengaluru Delhi Assam Kerala and Haryana have huge stadiums and courtsrdquoJitesh Padukone Founder and Head coach of Padukone Shuttlersrsquo Academy points out that the kind of environment that is created attributes to the failure andor success of athelets This can be seen in larger academies in Hyderabad and Bengaluru that have courts easily available ldquoMumbai has a lot of talent but not enough courts for public accessrdquo he rues ldquoThe city has gymkhanas and clubs that require an expensive membership for accessrdquo The city requires more clubs with courts in all parts ldquoThe goal of an academy as opposed to a club or gymkhana is totally different In my academy the courts are not accessible for 24 hours even to me for coaching The morning hours 6 am to10 am and prime time in the evening are booked by members The only time we get in is between 3 pm to 630 pm Clubs donrsquot focus on promoting a particular sport like badminton as it has to nurture other facilities toordquoUday Pawar Manish Hadkar and Jitesh PadukoneUnlike Mumbai where the number of courts per club is one or two other cities have a multitude as their focus is purely on the sport Pawar feels that since the facilities are few the cost of playing is risingTo improve the infrastructure in the city he urges the government to take action ldquoThere is a lot of talent but where can they play unless they are a member of a private clubrdquo he asks ldquoProviding facilities is very important and that is up to the state government to ensure that the right infrastructure is availablerdquoHe is cognizant of how difficult it would be for a preteen player to move to a different state in a different part of the country to train in a particular academy Parents are also hesitant about sending their children not only because their education suffers but also due to sociocultural gaps He gives the example of bronze medallist Lakshya Sen who is from Dehradun but trains in Bengaluru ldquoThe National Badminton Association should create national training centres all over the country so that talent can be nurturedrdquo he says ldquoIf there is an academy in every zone younger players can go to the academy closest to them and get better trainingrdquo Pawar concludes Another hurdle pointed out by Pullela Gopichand Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton Team was team spirit He lauded the menrsquos team work and bonding and said these qualities were missing in the womenrsquos team ldquoThey would play their own matches and not care for the rest of the teamrdquo he wrote in an opinion piece in a national daily newspaper ldquoSaina and Sindhu didnrsquot take the team along We should have built that culture at the Uber Cup Thatrsquos the difference between bronze and goldrdquoPawar a Thomas Cupper Former Senior National Coach who trained Chirag Shetty in response to Gopichandrsquos statement felt that it was Gopichandrsquos responsibility as chief coach to nurture team spirit bonding and understanding Giving the example of doubles pair Shetty and Rankireddy Pawar says ldquoTheir coach had to ensure that they were playing their best This kind of team spirit starts with the coach The players need to accept the fact that in team events we will all win together and we will all lose togetherrdquo Hadkar also agrees that the role of the coach is to ensure team support and that the players are relaxedPadukone holds that since badminton is an individual sport players are always competitors even when they play with each other ldquoFor example the top women players never practiced together They always trained separately and had different coachesrdquo he says He believes that all players in the team should practise under one roof for at least three months before tournaments such as the Uber Cup ldquoI had a similar situation in my academy where two good shuttlers avoid playing with each other because they are rivalsrdquo says Padukone ldquoThey fear that the other will study the game and donrsquot want to show their skill and talent But in the long run it really does not help they need to play with each otherrdquoPawar thinks that players must meet and practice prior to team events so that they can boost morale and support each other ldquoThis nudge must come from the senior members of the team and the coachesrdquo he says According to him a good coach builds rapport among team members by talking to them individually apart from talking to them collectively as done during the Thomas CupSinghi who joined the Indian team for the first time for the Uber Cup recalls ldquoIt was not only the first Uber cup for most of us but also the first time we were playing together Our team wasnrsquot as strong as we were new Sindhu didi took us to dinner spoke to us motivated usrdquo She admitted that they learned a lot from the boysrsquo team ldquoWe cheered our team membersrdquo recalls the 20yearold international player ldquobut they the men did it more They were more united than us and spent all their time together from practice sessions to breakfast to lunchhellip Their team was also very strong it had that junoonrdquo