BAI readies to ring in the changes
BAI plans to shift from individual coaching to group training for 50 senior shuttlers across India, enhancing junior systems and preparing for elite competitions.
New Delhi: With an aim to gradually wean away from the individual coaching set-up, Badminton Association of India (BAI) has shortlisted 50 senior shuttlers across disciplines who will train in groups across centres in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Guwahati.
The federation has also zoned in on 11 player-turned-coaches who will accompany their foreign counterparts at these camps. The list of coaches, it is learned, has been sent to SAI and a formal go-ahead should arrive “sometime t his week,” BAI said.
As of now, Malaysia’s Tan Kim Her is with the Indian set up in Hyderabad as the doubles coach while Indonesian Irwansyah Adi Pratama and South Korea’s Yoo Yong-sung are the women’s and men’s singles coaches respectively. Both of them are based in Bengaluru.
Former players such as Gurusai Dutt, Manu Attri, and Parupalli Kashyap were among the 49 player-turned-coaches who had applied to come onboard as BAI coaches and are likely to be among the 11 to make the cut. They, in turn, will be attached with the foreign coaches across the three venues.
“The plan will soon begin to take shape. We felt the need to try this system after the Paris Olympics,” BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra said 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 explained.
It is understood that the federation has been keen to get elite players to train with the fringe players for some time and top shuttlers, including double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu, who trains with Irwansyah, are on board with the arrangement. The players will be given a choice to base themselves in any of the three venues and coaches will be allocated 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 such as Sindhu and HS Prannoy in the last legs of their careers, BAI is working on strengthening its junior system. NCE Guwahati, which currently houses about 50 athletes, will be upgraded to accommodate 100 upcoming girls and boys across five disciplines. Next month’s (May 15-23) All India Sub Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament (U-15 and U-17) in Goa will double up as a selection trial to get into NCE and a circular to this effect was sent last 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 said.
The Guwahati facility currently has three foreign coaches -- Malaysia’s Sankar Annamalai, South Korean Park Tae-Sang, and Russia’s Ivan Sozonov -- and plans are also afoot to have top Indian coaches spend some time 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, however, concerns about players who do not wish to move their training base. BAI made it clear that it doesn’t wish to force players to follow the new arrangement.
“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 said.
BWF inspection
A team of technical experts from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) -- the global body governing sport -- will be in India in June to inspect the venue for this year’s Junior World Championship in Guwahati (October 13-19). The BWF team will be in Guwahati on June 8 and 9 and in Delhi on June 10 to inspect the Indira Gandhi Stadium that is 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 said.
To that effect, Indian Open 2026 will be moved from the KD Jadhav Hall to the main IG stadium. An all-India domestic ranking event at the same venue will also be held in the run-up to the Worlds to test the venue’s readiness.
