However, despite the successes of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and others over the last few years, India is still not considered a top badminton nation.
Now, BAI wants to change this. The governing body has ambitious plans to raise the standard of the game in India and take the country to the pinnacle of the sport.
One of its key proposals is the opening of five regional academies and a National Badminton Academy. According to BAI joint secretary Mayur Parikh:
He said the Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) is keen to have the West Zone’s regional academy in Nagpur. Guwahati is likely to have the East Zone Academy.
National Badminton Academy to be set up near Delhi
Mayur Parikh said that though venues for the zonal centers haven’t been finalized, the national academy will come up near Delhi.
Forming regional academies is an ambitious project of BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has recently become the chief minister of Assam. Mayur Parikh added:
Multi-level tournament structure in place
To tackle the issue of poor prize money, which keeps top stars away from national ranking tournaments, BAI has introduced a major revamp.
Prize money in the domestic tournaments is much less. That is a reason why most of the top stars don’t compete in the All India Ranking tournaments.
The new structure will have three categories of tournaments – Levels 1, 2 and 3. The highest, Level 1, will have a Rs 25 lakh purse. The Premier Super Series tournament - categorised as a Level 1 event - will be played twice a year and have restricted entry with main draws only.
The tournament will have a league-cum-knockout format, wherein the top eight domestic singles players and the top four pairs – all below 100 in the world rankings – will be eligible for direct entry. Moreover, the top 24 singles players and 12 doubles steams as per BAI rankings will also get direct entry.
The senior national championships will also have more incentives for players, with total prize money raised to Rs 50 lakh.
BAI has also formed a four-member committee for talent identification. A standing panel for talent identification has been formed consisting of chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, BAI general secretary Ajay Kumar Singhania, BAI vice-president Sekhar C Biswas and junior national chief coach Sanjay Mishra.
The committee will oversee the selection of upcoming players and participants for Khelo India Youth Games in consultation with the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Target Olympic Podium Scheme (Tops) division as may be required from time to time. The selection will be made in a very transparent manner and set criteria.
BAI’s plans for improvement of badminton in the country:
Regional Academies in Five Zones
National Badminton Academy
Separate Academy for Doubles
Appointment of more foreign coaches
Revamped domestic structure
Three levels of national-level tournaments
Increased combined Rs 2 crore prize money
Talent Identification Committee
Developing national coaches
International exposure for top-ranked domestic players.
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