Vijayawada: The 79th Indian Senior National badminton championships, which started on 29 January and will end on 5 February, has been a bit of a dampener, as top Indian shuttlers such as Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram, P.V Sindhu, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have decided to skip the competition.
Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary K Punnaiah Choudhary was anguished over the non-participation of those big guns and may sue the shuttlers for skipping the Nationals.
“I would like to take the issue to the court for justice. It was unfair on the part of some national players to skip major tournaments in the country after their meteoric rise in the sport. I would also take up the issue to the notice of the Union Government and ensure that the incentives and other benefits being given to the top players were denied if they skip major tournaments. Skipping major domestic tournaments by top players amounts to violation of BAI rules,” said Choudhary.
“BAI has suffered huge financial loss due to the absence of these star players. Senior Nationals is the premier tournament in the country. How can these players miss these events? We are witnessing this trend only now. Earlier, all the top players used to compete in the Nationals. Even Sachin Tendulkar used to play Ranji Trophy. We are not going to take this issue lightly, “added Choudhary.
India’s Chief coach Pullela Gopichand said, “This is of course a serious issue. The issue needs to be discussed at the next BAI meeting.”