Youngsters are not making use of opportunities in Indian badminton: U Vimal Kumar

After the medal-less Paris Olympics, Indian badminton has been caught on the wrong foot with top players struggling with poor form and injuries and the second crop failing to live up to the expectations.

Former national coach and Dhronacharya awardee U. Vimal Kumar is a little worried as the current crop of youngsters is not utilising the opportunities they are getting. 

“Arun George and Satish Karunakaran showed immense potential but they have not made the big leap into the top 30s so that they can play in the Super Series events regularly. They come out with good wins but the consistency is missing. They have to make it big in the next year, otherwise it will be difficult for them as a lot of promising players are coming up from other countries. At their age, they should be winning tournaments by now. Ayush Shetty has come up with some good wins and has entered the top 40 which is a healthy sign. He can be a big star considering he is only 19. Tharun Mannepalli is another player who holds promise,’‘ said the coach who was in Thiruvananthapuram on a private visit. 

“Lakshya Sen is still among the top 20. But he has to find consistency and win some big tournaments, the Super 1000 and Super 750 events. He is going to be our mainstay in the coming years,’‘ he added.

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“As far as women are concerned we have a really good crop of young players coming up and somebody will make a breakthrough so I am not that worried. Malavika Bansod is a good player. But our women players are unable to find a finishing stroke.  They need the sharpness to finish a rally and need to work on that aspect,’‘ he said.

Speaking on the success of Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Vimal said, “The success was not only about the dedication and passion we had and coaching was never a business for us. We never charged any fees to our trainees. We covered the expenses through sponsorship and we could demand and push the players to train hard.”

The 62-year-old also praised the new BAI facility in Guwahati. “It is good that BAI has started an academy in Guwahati but we need more such academies and they should be strategically located so that players from different parts of the country can come and train without any hassles. I hope BAI will soon start more coaching centres in other parts of the country.”

Vimal also shared his thoughts on former players becoming coaches. “I am always in favour of players becoming coaches at the end of their careers. But coaching is a professional job and a dedicated one and if someone is sacrificing something, maybe his job, he should be monetarily compensated.

Speaking about Kerala badminton, Vimal shared his apprehensions of a lack of talent pool. “Things are not that rosy as not many good players are coming out from the State. The Kerala Badminton Association (KBA) should identify some 30-odd talented players and give them year-round training at a centre. The KBA should ensure that there are enough coaches to train these youngsters.”