Badminton body keen to appoint former India players as coaches

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is keen to get former India internationals, including Parupalli Kashyap, to join as coaches. A list of 11 such players has been sent to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for approval. The BAI secretary general, however, insisted that those appointed will have to work with the junior teams first before moving up to work with the main team.

“We want them to be part of the coaching set-up. Some of them are already working. We have received over 40 applications. It is very important for us to have Indian coaches part of the set-up as we feel that we are losing our ability to use deception and net play, which were our players’ key strengths,” BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra said.

“They will work at the National Centre for at least three months before moving on. Training the juniors is a little bit more challenging. So they have to do it and then move on to the main teams,” he added.

B Sumeeth Reddy, Manu Attri and a few others

are already part of the

set-up with BAI.

Further, Mishra said that the trainees at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati hold the key for the future after the likes of PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy decide to call it a day.

“We have over 40 players at the national centre and we hope that some amongst them will become the mainstays of the teams in the coming future,” Mishra said.

“This will take at least a few years but it has to be done as we have to plan for the future. The trainees’ progression will be monitored and they would be added or axed accordingly,” he added.

BWF team to visit India

A Badminton World Federation is set to visit India in June to check the readiness of Guwahati, which is set to host the World Junior Championships in October. The team will then visit New Delhi, which is to host the World Badminton Championships in August next year.

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