New Delhi: With an purpose to step by step wean away from the person teaching set-up, Badminton Affiliation of India (BAI) has shortlisted 50 senior shuttlers throughout disciplines who will prepare in teams throughout centres in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Guwahati.
BAI has shortlisted 50 senior shuttlers throughout disciplines who will prepare in teams throughout centres in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Guwahati.
The federation has additionally zoned in on 11 player-turned-coaches who will accompany their overseas counterparts at these camps. The listing of coaches, it’s realized, has been despatched to SAI and a proper go-ahead ought to arrive “sometime t his week,” BAI stated.
As of now, Malaysia’s Tan Kim Her is with the Indian arrange in Hyderabad because the doubles coach whereas Indonesian Irwansyah Adi Pratama and South Korea’s Yoo Yong-sung are the ladies’s and males’s singles coaches respectively. Each of them are primarily based in Bengaluru.
Former gamers similar to Gurusai Dutt, Manu Attri, and Parupalli Kashyap have been among the many 49 player-turned-coaches who had utilized to return onboard as BAI coaches and are prone to be among the many 11 to make the minimize. They, in flip, shall be hooked up with the overseas coaches throughout the three venues.
“The plan will soon begin to take shape. We felt the need to try this system after the Paris Olympics,” BAI common secretary Sanjay Mishra stated on Tuesday.
“It is important to have Indian coaches to ensure our inherent skills do not die down. Indonesians and Malaysians have a power-based game and while our players are getting fitter, we feel they tend to lose their skills. That’s one area we want to address,” Mishra defined.
It’s understood that the federation has been eager to get elite gamers to coach with the perimeter gamers for a while and high shuttlers, together with double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu, who trains with Irwansyah, are on board with the association. The gamers shall be given a option to base themselves in any of the three venues and coaches shall be allotted accordingly.
“It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The players who are not yet at the elite level will get a chance to test themselves with the top guns and the latter will be routinely tested by the youngsters,” Mishra added.
With seniors similar to Sindhu and HS Prannoy within the final legs of their careers, BAI is engaged on strengthening its junior system. NCE Guwahati, which at present homes about 50 athletes, shall be upgraded to accommodate 100 upcoming women and boys throughout 5 disciplines. Subsequent month’s (Could 15-23) All India Sub Junior Rating Badminton Event (U-15 and U-17) in Goa will double up as a range trial to get into NCE and a round to this impact was despatched final week.
“We will tap into the under-17 group. We believe U-15 athletes are better off staying with their parents for emotional comfort. With high-quality training at NCE, we will be able to produce players capable of going deep in elite competitions within 3-4 years,” BAI stated.
The Guwahati facility at present has three overseas coaches — Malaysia’s Sankar Annamalai, South Korean Park Tae-Sang, and Russia’s Ivan Sozonov — and plans are additionally afoot to have high Indian coaches spend a while with the juniors.
“Our focus is on juniors. We have to start planning for life after Sindhu, and we expect some good players to come through in the next 3-4 years,” Mishra added.
There are, nevertheless, issues about gamers who don’t want to transfer their coaching base. BAI made it clear that it doesn’t want to pressure gamers to comply with the brand new association.
“We will try to convince them but if someone is not keen, we won’t force them to fall in line. Ultimately, we want our players to be in good mental space while they train,” BAI stated.
BWF inspection
A crew of technical specialists from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) — the worldwide physique governing sport — shall be in India in June to examine the venue for this yr’s Junior World Championship in Guwahati (October 13-19). The BWF crew shall be in Guwahati on June 8 and 9 and in Delhi on June 10 to examine the Indira Gandhi Stadium that’s likley to host the 2026 Senior World Championships.
“BWF will file a report based on their assessment. Our Guwahati centre is in great shape but there have been concerns in the past about the KD Jadhav wrestling hall next to IG Stadium. While certain issues, such as pollution, are beyond our control, we’ll ensure we do everything within our capacity to ensure the venue is in pristine condition,” Mishra stated.
To that impact, Indian Open 2026 shall be moved from the KD Jadhav Corridor to the primary IG stadium. An all-India home rating occasion on the identical venue may also be held within the run-up to the Worlds to check the venue’s readiness.