Rise of Indian Badminton

OutlookIndia

Feathers in Badminton gave Wings to youngsters in India. Now they dream, aspire and inspire.  As India Moves On, we bring to you the incredible journey of the sport in India, a country brimming with zealous young talents  #KadamBadhaoIndia #RightToSports #Exide #ExideCare #Outlookindia #IndiaMovesOnExide #AsianGames #Olympics #Sports #SportsInIndia #IndianSports #AsianGames2023

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:18 This is a story about a bunch of feathers.

00:21 A bunch of feathers which when they came together like this,

00:24 in the 19th century,

00:26 were smashed over a net back and forth by these quaint looking British ladies and gents in Pune.

00:32 Yes, our old Pune, from where this shuttle flew across the world,

00:36 has turned a full circle and flown back and given flight to millions of Indian dreams.

00:42 This is the story of the stunning flight of badminton in India.

00:47 So, the recreational game, actually called Pula,

00:52 was taken to the UK and of course given a proper name.

00:55 It didn't quite cause a flutter back here until 1980.

00:59 One man from Mysore won the hearts of all of England.

01:03 But hey, let's cut to the chase here.

01:05 170 countries play badminton and only 6 nations have won the badminton world cup,

01:13 that's Thomas Cup, and India is the 6th nation.

01:15 So that is very special for the sport.

01:17 Whatever that has happened to cricket in 1983,

01:20 there were 7-8 nations who were equally good.

01:23 India played to their potential.

01:25 So we could beat the best of nations and win the Thomas Cup.

01:29 From just 2 heroes until 2001, India now has a galaxy of stars,

01:39 and they hail from all parts of the country.

01:41 Right now there are Indians who are champions in their individual sports.

01:46 Say for example, Saina Nehwal I think would be the best example.

01:51 Because of the popularity of the sport, the number of courts have increased,

01:55 the number of children playing the sport have increased,

01:58 but the number of tournaments I would say are the same.

02:00 Just that the number of participants playing the sport and entering into tournaments

02:06 have increased massively.

02:08 Hyderabad, home to Gopichand and Sindhu, is a world-class factory,

02:14 producing top-tier athletes.

02:16 But it's its finishing academies across India

02:19 where hundreds of diamonds are being polished every day.

02:22 I started playing in Panchkula, Taudi Vilal Stadium.

02:27 We have a proper track and 4 courts, gym, everything.

02:33 Even Prakash Padukone sir, he used to tell that

02:48 we used to practice in the marriage hall.

02:50 If the marriage is not there, we used to, we will practice.

02:53 Here you have everything.

02:55 Gym, a physio, a gym trainer, everything we have.

03:00 It takes a village to create an athlete,

03:07 and today these villages are abuzz and proud.

03:11 With collective spirit, administrative support,

03:14 and an incredible supply chain of talent and mentors,

03:18 the Indian shuttle has torn down the Chinese wall in the past decade.

03:22 If you look at it, in 2006,

03:25 things started changing in the country for badminton.

03:28 The first thing, the scoring format of the sport changed.

03:31 Then the other thing was, Commonwealth Games in 2010 was allotted to India.

03:36 And Saina Nehwal at that time was slowly coming up.

03:40 At that time, she started getting some good wins over the top internationals.

03:45 And then Saina started beating the girls.

03:49 So at some point of time, they used to say that it was Saina versus China.

03:53 Such things were said, and it was good for the sport.

03:57 In 2001, 2002, when we used to cover the Nationals,

04:05 and you would see 80% kids coming to the Nationals

04:08 would have bigger bags for the campfire day than the playing day.

04:12 Today, not a single player wastes time after 5 minutes of their match

04:18 and is gone for training, for rest.

04:20 So the focus of badminton has changed. Now it is a career.

04:24 Today, it is a sport in India where people are looking to make a career out of it.

04:27 The shuttle today is fast, fierce, and the best part,

04:34 it's only just begun to take flight.

04:38 [Music]

04:44 (whooshing)

04:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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