GUTS: June-July 2011 by Dev Sukumar

Vol. 3. No. 2

For Private Circulation Only

June - July 2011

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

June - July 2011

Time ripe for league system India is a field for a league system, and it’s important that the national association takes on board the opinions of players, coaches, state associations and other stake-holders before drafting the first version, writes Dev S Sukumar

ith the Indian Premier League in cricket casting its shadow on other spheres of Indian sport, it almost seems inevitable that a similar version will take off in badminton. The Maharashtra Badminton League held recently was hailed as a success, for it tapped into resources that were until now considered out of bounds for badminton – such as cash-rich real estate businesses.

ranking points. There really is no point in playing in a domestic event. Denmark would be a good example to follow. It has several divisions in its league, and it goes on through the year.” Of course a league comes with its own problems. To begin with, it accommodates fewer players, while a ranking tournament, with a main draw of 64 and an equally competitive qualifying draw, accommodates well over 100 players. There’s greater opportunity – but as Anup says, there’s another way of looking at this. How many of these players are really serious about the game? Half the players at ranking tournaments are simply making up the numbers. Two, a three- or four-

With Karnataka following suit, and an Indian badminton league likely to take shape before the year-end, will the game ever be the same in India? The traditional notion of the domestic circuit, consisting of the national championships and a few ranking tournaments, somehow seems to belong to a different age. On the ground, there is a great demand for reform, and to pitch badminton in an altogether new light. While there is no magic pill to cure all the ills of Indian badminton, there are perhaps some changes that might help in pepping up the domestic circuit. If the MBL is anything to go by, the league system is where the money is. With increased money comes glamour, spectator attention and media coverage. There is possibly a case for revamping the circuit keeping a league structure, or at least a league window, in mind. Most members of the fraternity however have differing views on what this revamp should mean. Anup Sridhar, for instance, believes the domestic ranking tournaments make little sense at a time when most of the top players are constantly traveling on international assignments. “I don’t know if the ranking tournaments make sense any more,” he says. “It’s like the Ranji Trophy in cricket. You don’t know if anyone’s following it. Most players would be interested in a league that brings in the money. At the moment, everybody’s playing international events mainly for the

tier league (with A, B and C divisions) can accommodate the serious players, and make it worth their while. A well-conducted league can reward more players handsomely than any ranking tournament, for in the latter, it’s only the semifinalists and finalists who stand to make some money. Former doubles star UdayPawar, who used to run a ranking tournament, says the idea of a league is fine, but there is a greater need for systemic reform. “BAI must give sufficient notice to the organisers before announcing the tournament dates,” says Uday. “Sponsors will obviously look at what they’re getting in return. They will want the high-profile players to participate, but if you don’t give the players sufficient notice, how can you blame them for not taking part in domestic events?” However, former chief national coach Vimal Kumar believes Indian players should pay more emphasis for domestic events and not run behind international events. “There is a mad rush for international ranking points,” he says. “But, to be honest,

most of these players are not going to qualify for the Olympics. Only Saina is an absolute certainty. There are a few others who are in with a chance, and we know their names. Why is everyone else avoiding domestic events? They are scared of losing to upcoming players, and unless they overcome this fear, they will not be able to progress to the next step.” Vimal believes that, either with a league or with tournaments, it is important to have international participation to lend some diversity and competitive flair to the event. Former international Nikhil Kanetkar, who now runs an academy and was associated with the inaugural Maharashtra league, believes that the entire system needs careful planning before being implemented. “What’s important is to see if the team owners are committed to badminton,” he says. “At the Maharashtra league, most of the owners were in it for the love of the game. This being an Olympic qualifying year, most of the players in contention will be travelling and it might not be possible to attract the best players. It’s up to the BAI to draw up a calendar with a proper window for the league.” Nikhil and Anup are excited at the economic potential of the league, and foresee great opportunities for all stakeholders. Ultimately, what’s necessary is an agency with the vision and drive to create a league that will host the best players on the planet in India.

Dr. akhilesh das reads GUTS. Do you? I appreciate your efforts in bringing out this publication. Please keep on doing such good work. With best wishes.. Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, MP

Check your Badminton Quotient Who did Ajay Jayaram beat in the first round of the World C’ships 2011? SMS your answers to 9611833630 Please include your names with the answer

Answer to last edition's BQ:

Inspiring Eagles Winners: Malini Haldipur, Ankur, Shlokh R, Paresh Sannecy, Amogh

June - July 2011

None of the Chinese girls are impressive

Who will bell the cat?

Vimal Kumar, former India chief coach, reports from the sidelines of the Singapore and Indonesia Super Series Cheng Shao Chieh, which she lost (8-21 2110 21-19) despite leading. She relaxed and it cost her the match. Perhaps she hadn’t had enough rest, because she looked sluggish. At Indonesia, however, she beat Cheng Shao (21-14 14-21 21-17) in the semifinals. Before that, in the quarters, she got her first ever win over Tine Rasmussen. Tine was catching Saina tactically, but Saina played intelligently. Tine has the kind of game that will trouble Saina – she plays a lot of cross and sharp strokes.

he main thing I remember about the Singapore and Indonesia Open Super Series is that the skill level of top players in contemporary badminton has gone down. Everybody is playing to the middle of the court; they’re playing safe. The quality has gone down because they are not exploring the corners, or trying different kinds of shots, such as the flick from the net, because they’re scared it will go out. Gopichand and I were discussing this while watching those games. Only Sho Sasaki (Japan) was different, as he was playing for the lines. He even beat Lin Dan in the second round of the Indonesia Open. Wang Zhengming of China also impressed me. He’s quite good, although he struggled against Marc Zwiebler because he wasn’t playing freely. The other players were all keeping the shuttle down and flat. The game of badminton is losing strokes. It’s sad to see this happen. At the moment, the players are scared of making mistakes because the shuttles tend to be fast and they fly off. The only solution is to bring in more rallies, maybe by making the shuttles slower. These are issues BWF needs to look at. I watched Saina’s first match at Singapore, where she beat Lu Lan (21-18 13-21 21-16) in three close games. I noticed she had a wound on her leg due to the accident on the treadmill. Next was her match against

In the final, Saina played Wang Yihan. Yihan is not that special, she was lucky to beat Juliane Schenk in the quarters. Schenk, like Saina, is one of those who can trouble the Chinese. None of the Chinese impressed me; they’re not in the old mould like Xie Xingfang or Zhang Ning. They’re nowhere in that class. In fact, Yihan looked scared of Saina. But the Indian girl played a poor game after winning the first 21-12. Wang didn’t seem to have any hope, but this format makes things easier to come back in a match. I met some of my old friends, like Lius Pongoh and Morten Frost. In fact, when I was sitting in the gallery, some people mistook me for Prakash (Padukone)! Saina is quite popular in Indonesia. The atmosphere in Indonesia is still great for badminton; it’s even better than Malaysia even though the level of their players has dropped down. They still love the game and the stadium was packed on all days, including qualifying matches. Apart from Saina, Jwala and Ashwini were good, they lost narrowly to Meiliana Jauhari/ Greysia Polii (22-20 18-21 21-18) in the second round. Ajay Jayaram played well against Peter Gade (24-22 21-12 in the first round), but he never believed he could beat him. He was game point up in the first game, but that self-belief has yet to come. There is a gap in the Indian doubles after Sanave-Rupesh and Jwala-Ashwini. It will take two-three years to build their replacements, and that is an area for concern in Indian badminton.

here has been constant bickering between the ministry of sports and national sports federations in the recent past regarding autonomy and good governance. True sports lovers hope good sense will prevail and sport enjoys autonomy so far as interference from political bigwigs are concerned. At the same time, the federations need to address some issues with greater urgency. Many national sports associations have been turning a blind eye to crucial issues like agefraud. Badminton lovers would expect the newly elected BAI committee to bestow this issue the attention it merits. The sports ministry has recommended exhaustive age verification guidelines for all players. What, in your opinion, are the merits and demerits of this regulation? What would be the other effective steps BAI could take to counter this menace? Choose among the options given below and mail your answers to badmintonmania@gmail. com: a) Impose standardised and stricter norms for age submission (unlike the current system which has plenty of loopholes) b) Provide for age verification checks at all major tournaments c) Create an independent agency within the BAI who will monitor complaints and cases of age-fraud d) Penalise coaches/ academies/ state associations for age-fraud of their players e) Follow government guidelines strictly

Promotional Feature

A new vision for Indian badminton The Karnataka Badminton League will be unlike anything seen in Indian badminton. If the detailed planning is anything to go by, it could revolutionise the game in India

t’s about badminton, it’s about players and it’s about business.

KBL has formulated on a simple principle of life: a win-win situation. If badminton has to grow there should be enough money in the game. For the survival of badminton, players, coaches, referees, equipment manufacturers and others associated with the game should stand to benefit. Business has to be brought into the game. The world over, nearly every game revolves around a league – whether it’s the NBA (basketball), EPL (football) or IPL (cricket). There’s sport and entertainment on offer for fans; careers for players, and markets for businessmen. Who is this businessman? From a street vendor to a corporate business tycoon, nearly every level of business can be involved and can cash in on the league model. A competitive league also brings a corporate culture to the game. All are answerable – players to coaches to managers. The end result: you don’t see indifferent players or coaches. Coaches spend sleepless nights to devise new tactics, while players are forced to sharpen their skills and run the extra mile. The brand value of the team depends on its performance; in fact, the sponsors’ products ride piggyback on the success of the team. Business happens. All these contribute to the commercial success and viability of badminton. The Karnataka Badminton League has been formed with the support of Karnataka Badminton Association with the idea of promoting badminton in Karnataka and to improve the standard of players by creating a platform for higher-level badminton. It’s

an opportunity for junior players to watch and spar with seniors and to participate in organized coaching camps. KBL is also exploring the idea of having coaches and players from outside Karnataka and India as well. The tournament will be played at the premier clubs and stadiums. The inaugural season of the tournament will have six to eight teams, with around 100 players playing in a two-week tournament. To make the tournament attractive, the format will be best-of-five: two men’s singles, one women’s singles, one men’s doubles and one mixed doubles. The

tournament will be conducted on leaguecum-knockout basis. A minimum of seven players are required and maximum ten players will be allowed in a team. To encourage young talent, four junior and sub-junior players will be included in each team apart from the core team of ten players. To ensure equal opportunity to all the players, one player can play only event in a tie. The franchisees will be selected by the process of bidding. In turn, the franchisees will select the players through auction from a players’ pool. Business part of the league How do you own a team?

KBL

Karnataka Badminton L E A G U E

Business part of the league * For a franchisee to buy a team, there is minimum bidding fee of Rs2.5 lakh * A minimum amount of Rs.2.5 lakh has to be utilised for the auction by a team, while the upper limit is Rs 3 lakh * The first term of KBL is for three years. The first edition will be held later this year * There will be a title name for every team. Franchisees can sell the title to a sponsor, which can fetch anything between Rs3 to Rs5 lakh * Each team will be allowed to have cheer girls, and displays on their T-shirts can be again sold to sponsors

For a franchisee to buy a team, there is minimum bidding fee of Rs2.5 lakh. Whoever bids the highest will be awarded with a team. There are a maximum of eight teams. These franchisee teams along with their team managers/coaches can plan on bidding for their players and their auction amounts for each player. How will a team select a player? The team has to participate in the auction to select the players from the players’ pool. A minimum amount of Rs.2.5 lakh has to be utilised for the auction by a team, while the upper limit is Rs 3 lakh. How many years? The first term of KBL is for three years. The first edition will be held later this year. The franchisee term therefore is for 2011, 2012 and 2013. Every year, the franchisees are committed to pay the franchisee amount of Rs.2.5 lakh as well as the minimum auction amount of Rs.2.5 lakh, totalling to Rs.5 lakh, plus escalation charges of 20 percentage.

June - July 2011

Indonesian crown for Sindhu W

ith the Maldives Open and Indonesia International titles under her belt, it has been another good year for PV Sindhu. The teenager, already hailed as the next big thing in Indian badminton after Saina Nehwal, chalked up a creditable victory over top Indonesian Franciska Ratnasari in the Indonesia International (July 19 to 24). “I’m very happy,” Sindhu told GUTS. “The Indonesia International was my second international victory. It was my first tournament in Indonesia; it’s the first time I’m playing there.” The result was particularly impressive because Ratnasari had beaten Sindhu at Hyderabad last year. “When I played her in Hyderabad, I was a little short on stamina. This time my endurance was better. I’ve also worked on my defence, and the earlier experience of playing her helped. I was confident, going into the final, and not nervous, because it was a senior event.” Does all the pressure of following in Saina’s footsteps worry her? “I play my game and don’t think about anything else,” she says. “Everyone tries to compare me with her, but it’s not easy to be Saina.” Next up for the Hyderabadi are the Vietnam Open and Commonwealth Youth Games.

PV Sindhu won the Victor Indonesia International Challenge beating home favourite Fransiska Ratnasari in the final 21-16 21-11 in 40 minutes

How will the franchisee make a profit?

KBL is also working with print media, radio and TV channels for advertising this mega event. GUTS, India’s only badminton magazine, is covering the profiles of every team of KBL in their exclusive issues for this tournament.

There will be a title name for every team. Franchisees can sell the title to a sponsor, which can fetch anything between Rs3 to 5 lakhs. There can be eight displays on the T-shirt of players (which will be specified), out of which one will be for the main sponsor and another for the tournament logo. The other six can be sold for the sponsors or can be utilised by the franchisee for their own product. Each of these displays can be sold for an amount ranging from Rs.75 ,000 to Rs2lakh. Additional revenue Above these, there will be attractive prize money involved. Each team will be allowed to have cheer girls, and displays on their T-shirts can be again sold to sponsors. Above the eight displays on the players’ T-shirts, each team will be allowed to display 10 banners for their particular match and one stall per team will be permitted for their match.

KBL is planning for around 30 promotional /demo matches in schools, colleges and corporates. Each franchisee will get an opportunity of three to four matches, where again sponsors will get their names displayed. KBL is also planning to organise a corporate tournament with a limited number of teams, where corporates are allowed to have one or two players from the players’ pool. There again the teams will get publicity. There are going to be more than 15 matches and direct viewership of 5000 people is expected for each match. KBL is in talks with local TV channels to telecast matches live.

AAI Triumphs Airports Authority of India were in the limelight in the All India Inter Institutional Badminton Tournament organized by Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association from 15th to 17th July, 2011 at Vijayawada. AAI won both the Men’s and Women’s team event for the third year in succession. The Men’s Team had to fight it out against their traditional opponents FCI ultimately prevailing 3-2 with K. Nanda Gopal and Sumeeth Reddy winning their singles and teaming up to take the deciding doubles. The AAI women’s team beat BSNL 2-0 with N.Sikki Reddy winning her singles and thereafter Abantika Deka & S. Sampada the doubles. Both the AAI teams have thus qualified to participate in the Senior Nationals to be held in Mangalore in January, 2012.

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

June - July 2011

The Dato’s story is out Badminton Championships, London 2011. The energy drinks giant is the latest global brand name to team up with Badminton England ahead of the sport’s showpiece event at the world famous Wembley Arena in London, between 8-14 August 2011. RedBull’s arrangement with Badminton England as a major events partner for the Yonex BWF World Badminton Championships will see them enjoy high profile brand presence throughout Wembley Arena – an official London 2012 venue – during the week-long Championships.

UALA LUMPUR: An autobiography of Malaysia’s most successful badminton player Lee Chong Wei is set to hit the market at the World Championships which will be held at Wembley from Aug 8-14. The production of his first-ever book is one of the many outside activities that Chong Wei has been juggling together with his strenuous training sessions over the last few months leading to his sixth world championships outing. The book is about his life as a badminton player and it is meant to give courage and hope for many aspiring youngsters, whose dreams are to make it big in badminton or in any other sports. Chong Wei, who has been holding on to his World No. 1 tag for the last four years, said that prioritising events was the key to avoiding a chaotic life. “My priority has always been badminton. I am where I am because of badminton. I give utmost importance to training and having a good deal of rest. The other activities are planned in such a way that they do not interfere with my badminton training and travel,” said Chong Wei. “I train half day on Thursdays and so I am able to do other things on this day – like recording from the television, attending functions and etc. I also make sure that I have good rest in between my training schedule and other activities. It takes a lot of discipline to do it. “And this year, I have engaged a consultant team to help me manage my outside activities and that really helps too.” Rajes Paul, The Star RedBull teams up with Badminton England LONDON: RedBull China were unveiled as official supplier of the Yonex BWF World

There will also be branding courtside when the best badminton players of the globe do battle in front of a packed venue and a dedicated television audience in over 25 countries. Joan Zhang, Director of Sports Marketing for Red Bull China, said: “The fast paced action at the Yonex BWF World Badminton Championships is a perfect match with RedBull’s other sporting interests so we are happy to put all our energies into working with Badminton England to make the Championships a huge success.” http://www.incentivetravel.co.uk Saina to work with performance analyst CHENNAI: Badminton star Saina Nehwal will work with Indian cricket team’s performance analyst S Ramakrishan to fine tune her game in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), which is helping Saina and other athletes to win Olympic medal, has roped in the analyst to work with the shuttler and her coach Pullela Gopichand. Ramakrishnan, who travelled with the Indian team between 2003 and 2007 and still provides support, has spoken to Gopichand on the specific things he will focus on. “The Indian cricket team has reaped huge benefits by using technology. We will try to replicate that into other sports as well,” Ramakrishnan, who is also the director of sports technology firm Sports Mechanics, said. “We have a little over 12 months left for Olympics. In the first six months we will collect data and footage on Saina and her main opponents. We will sit with her and the coach and work on all possible aspects of her game. Besides, Saina will be shown the video of every match she plays from now on.” http://www.deccanchronicle.com Li Mao wants Indonesians to move on JAKARTA: Indonesia’s current low

achievements in the world’s badminton leagues is normal, said the country’s head coach for badminton singles, Li Mao, as setbacks had also happened to powerhouses such as China. The former Chinese coach said that the country is currently at its lowest point of performance but this is normal in any badminton powerhouse. He said the nation just has to admit the hard truth while working more seriously on the players’ techniques if it aims to strive for resurgence in the badminton world. Indonesia needs to accept the current reality: That it’s at its lowest point at the moment, (but from there) it can climb back to the top again,” Li Mao said through an interpreter. “I believe this is a normal condition for any badminton country, even China.” He acknowledged that Indonesia does have plenty of talented players. “But their techniques need to be polished, which will require time,” he said. Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post Marking Independence Day with badminton RWANDA: The Indian community of Rwanda (Indorwa) will mark their country’s 65th Independence with sports and cultural activities, according to the Association’s chairman, Dinesh Kalyani. The Independence celebrations, which will take place on August 15 at Utexrwa, will be preceded by sports competitions that include badminton and cricket, while cultural activities will include drawing and art by young children at the Indian Chef restaurant. There are 1,500 Indians living in Rwanda, working in different fields including mining, education and energy sectors. http://allafrica.com New academies in Tamil Nadu? CHENNAI: Badminton is all set to get a big boost in Tamil Nadu with the setting up of two academies to promote the sport leveraging on the excellent results that Indian shuttlers have been achieving. Ashok Bajaj, well known industrialist and secretary of the state body, said: “BAI has decided to set up 30 coaching institutions in order to promote the sport and the sport is beginning to draw the attention of potential sponsors.” Times of India

June - July 2011

Time to control entries F

ive all India junior ranking tournaments were held in Cochin, Goa, Dharwad, Hyderabad and Indore respectively during the last two months. It is heartening to note that the RSC tournament in Cochin and the UBI tournament in Bangalore are becoming permanent fixtures in the BAI calendar along with the long running Krishna Khaitan Memorial tournament. The newly added U-17 category was introduced for the first time in Cochin. PV Sindhu dominated the Cochin tournament winning a triple crown, the junior girls’ singles and doubles and the U-17 girls’ singles. The elegant southpaw Pratul Joshi (AI) defended his junior boys’ singles title, disposing off NVS Vijetha (AP) in three games. The top seed Sameer Verma was upset in the first round by doubles specialist Venkatesh. It was a tournament to remember for the RSC as many of their trainees did very well on home ground. Arun won the U-17 BS and Sharon and Pranav won the junior BD title. Shyam also won the U-17 BD title partnering Shlok (MAH). The 256 draw in both the U-17 boys’ singles and U-19 boys’ singles meant as many as five rounds of qualifying matches over three games of 21 points. Many players who competed in multiple events were seen cramping and conceding their matches. This gives rise to the argument that there has to be some restriction to the number of entries in the qualifying or having qualifying rounds over three games of 15 points. The second leg of the junior circuit was in Goa from 12th to 17th July. The events were held in two places - Ponda and Madgaon. Tanvi Lad once again beat Gauri Ghate, this time in the finals of the girls’ singles in three games. Sameer, fresh from his silver medal finish at the BAC Junior championship in Lucknow, annexed the junior boys’ singles title beating Pratul in straight games. Srikant and Hemanagendra once again proved that they are the best

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Ruthvika also shone, winning both the Under 17 girls’ singles and doubles and reaching the finals of the junior girls’ doubles and mixed doubles events. Cochin finalist Harsheel won the under 17 singles beating top seed Aditya in the finals. They combined to finish runners up to Shyam and Shlok who made it two-in-a-row in the under 17 boys’ doubles.

junior circuit The third leg in Dharwad was the smallest in terms of participation with only 628 entries and less than 300 players. There was also a spate of walk overs on Days one and two. The brand new stadium and a bunch of energetic organisers deserved better. Rohit stopped giant killer Gopi in the finals of the junior boys’ singles in three games. Gopi had earlier upset Pratul in the pre quarters after being down 4-11 down in the third. Abhishek, the local boy did remarkably well to reach the semis before losing out to Rohit. Gopi combined with Shivam (UP) and won the doubles title beating Naresh and Venkatesh in the finals. Saili and Arathi (AI) won their second doubles title of the year beating newcomers Adna & Haritha (KER) in the finals.

Ruthvika won a triple crown in Dharwad winning the under 17 girls’ singles and doubles and the mixed doubles title as she did in Goa. Harsheel made it two-in –a-row winning the U-17 Singles beating Shreayansh in the finals. It is understood that BAI will be taking stringent action on players withdrawing from national tournaments without genuine reasons. But strict action is yet to be taken against overage players. Such culprits and their supporters are still thriving. The 10th Union Bank sub junior ranking tournament held in Bangalore (20th to 24th July) drew 1116 entries and 599 players making it the biggest tournament so far held this year. RSC tournament in Cochin attracted (1056 & 496), followed by Goa (835 & 412). The newly added U-15 event was played here for the first time. Laa Talar of Arunachal won the U-15 boys’ singles. Ruthvika won the U-15 girls’ singles and doubles in the company of Sanjana (MAH). Siril was the star of the tournament winning both the U-13 singles and doubles and also the U-15 BD. Kanika of Delhi won the U-13 GD beating partner Ashwini Bhat in the finals. Ashwini’s semifinal win over Archana Pai also of Karnataka where she came back from the brink (8-17) in the third game was one of the best matches of the tournament.

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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

June - July 2011

Printed & Published by Dev S. Kumar, P4, KSSIDC Industrial Area, Mahadevapura, Bangalore - 560 048. Printed at National Printing Press, Koramangala, Bangalore-560 095. Email: thomasjkunnath@gmail.com, badmintonmania@gmail.com