Potential wasted: Indian shuttlers sign off Paris Games on dismal note
New Delhi: India became so used to a badminton medal from the Olympics in the last 12 years that Paris 2024 seems nothing short of a disaster.
Lakshya Sen emerged as a notable bright spot with a fourth-place finish, but the Indian badminton team, including medal contenders such as PV Sindhu and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time in over a decade.
The hopes of a medal were not misplaced, Sindhu was there again eyeing a hat-trick of medals, the ever-tenacious HS Prannoy (men’s singles) had finally made it to his debut Olympics, and Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto (women’s doubles) seemed in decent form.
As for Lakshya and Satwik-Chirag, they were seen as potential podium finishers even before the first match was held.
During the Paris cycle, badminton received considerable support too, including 13 national camps and 81 foreign exposure trips, funded under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
The Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell allocated Rs 72.03 crore, the second-largest funding among the nearly Rs 470 crore spent on India’s Olympic preparations across 16 disciplines.
Despite the significant investment, the results in Paris fell short of expectations, highlighting the unpredictable nature of Olympic competition and also the mental aspect of playing at such an event.
Nothing demonstrated it more than Lakshya’s implosion first in the semifinals against Viktor Axelsen and then in the bronze play-off against Lee Zii Jia of Chinese Taipei.
Sindhu, who had received Rs 3.13 crore in support, was unable to progress beyond the pre-quarterfinals, missing the chance to become the first Indian to win three Olympic medals.
“I am a little disappointed as he could not finish it. I am disappointed that we could not even win one medal in badminton. The government, SAI, and TOPS have done their bit. It is high time some of the players also need to take some responsibility,” Lakshya’s coach and former All England champion Prakash Padukone.
The unexpected defeat of former world number one Satwik and Chirag was the most shocking of all and added to the dismay, as they were considered gold-medal contenders.
The government had backed the players extensively, including Rs 26.60 lakh and Rs 9.33 lakh sanctioned for Sindhu and Lakshya’s training in Germany and France, respectively.
