KUALA LUMPUR – It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but the fact is that India has surpassed Malaysia in badminton, especially in the women’s game.
Former men’s singles player Muhammad Hafiz Hashim spent a year coaching in India, and he also had the opportunity to be within the system that has elevated players from the South Asian power.
On Sunday, India’s women’s team shocked the badminton world by emerging as champions of the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) for the first time, when they defeated Thailand 3-2 in the final.
This success comes after the men’s team won the Thomas Cup for the first time in 2022, followed by a silver in the men’s team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Adding to that, the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty became the first Indian men’s duo to win an Asiad gold.
Hafiz said during his time coaching at Suchitra Badminton Academy, where he also had the opportunity to train their number one women’s player, P.V. Sindhu, he observed two things that differentiate Malaysia and India: the system and mentality.
The club and academy system, which has been the base from which India’s national players have been chosen for the past 10 years, are the keys that have elevated their badminton to where it is now.
“In India, the main system is the private clubs and academies. These clubs carry out development programmes, and their players will play for the national squad only if they are selected.
“After the tournament ends, the players will return to their clubs. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) will only provide financial support to the players and coaches; the club will take care of the rest.
“In Malaysia, it is different. The best players will be placed at the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) or Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM). BAM/ABM will carry out the development programme for the country.
“In my time here and observing the system utilised, I believe that there are many benefits, and it is very practical for the national players to come from clubs and academies,” said the 2003 All England champion when contacted by Scoop.
According to Hafiz, the badminton system in India is akin to the professional football league, where the players play for their clubs, including when they participate in competitions abroad.
Only the best will be called up to represent the national team for the Olympics, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games, besides the World Championships, Thomas, Uber, Sudirman Cups and the Asian Championships.
“However, in India, the incentives offered are very rewarding. In other words, you can become rich by winning a tournament,” added Hafiz.
According to him, since a decade ago, all the best players come from the club and private academies, and they will compete for the best position in the All India Senior Rankings.
“All year, there will be three to four championships to identify the best talents from the whole country. The good players or champions in the tournaments in India will be given the opportunity to represent the country.
“Rewarding incentives when winning tournaments or when you have a good ranking will create competition between clubs to produce more good players in a competitive environment. Thailand has also utilised this system, besides a few countries in Europe.
“The number one sport in India is cricket, but after they introduced this system… if I’m not mistaken, since 2013 or 2014, badminton’s popularity has skyrocketed. I can say now that India has overtaken Malaysia, especially the women’s team,” he said.
While the Indian women’s squad made history at BATC, the Malaysian women’s team failed to make it past the quarter-finals, while the men’s squad lost 3-0 to China in the final.
“I think the main problem for badminton in Malaysia is that BAM has not made many changes in their system. Since I was 13 years old until now, they have been using the same system.
“I am now 42 years old… so it has been a long time since any changes have been made.
“We also need to take into account their mentality. You can have a ‘deity’ (as a coach), but if the mentality of the players is that they only want to be famous and have many followers on social media, then our badminton won’t go far.
“One more thing, players who are 16 to 17 years old are still playing in the junior national circuit.
“Why don’t we allow those who have good potential to be in the senior squad?” said the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games gold medalist. – February 21, 2024
