Players should not skip tournaments

Published : Mar 07, 2009 00:00 IST

MAHESH HARILAL
MAHESH HARILAL
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MAHESH HARILAL

For the beleaguered organisers, the presence of badminton legend Prakash Padukone came as a major relief. In his playing days his racket did much of the talking. As the head of a successfully run academy and having organised a National Championship in Bangalore, Prakash knows the hardships involved in staging the big event and makes no bones of his reservation about players skipping tournaments.

Tournaments are meant for players, and if they skip them or keep the organisers in the dark till the last moment, it not only affects the event but also sends the wrong signal to the sponsors, he said while speaking to the press. “Ultimately tournaments will cease and the sufferer will be the players,” he went on.

Prakash was of the view that the Badminton Association of India must find ways to ensure that domestic tournaments do not suffer. Perhaps they should take a cue from the BCCI, which has ways to keep the players trim, thanks to its own medical team and their periodical assessments.

Incidentally, prior to the National Championship the only major tournament held in India was the Tata Open in Mumbai in July 2008. It is an irony that Indian badminton players, who not long ago were in need of foreign exposure, are now suffering from “over exposure” to foreign tourneys at the cost of domestic events!

SRS

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