India lacks facilities for badminton: Veteran badminton player Partho Ganguli
Arjuna awardee and veteran badminton player Partho Ganguli was the chief guest at The 24th Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament that concluded on Sunday. In an interview with Adil Akhzer, he speaks about the current badminton scenario in the country
How do you see Indian shuttler P V Sindhu’s performance in Denmark?
It was great. Beating senior players, even when you don’t get much rest, is something stellar.
Do you think that these performances by Indian players overseas would encourage the young players here?
Our players are performing well. There are so many players coming up, and it is something to look forward to.
How do you see the performances of young badminton players like Srikanth Kidambi and Parupalli Kashyap, who reached the quarters in London Olympics?
They were fantastic. Such performances help youngsters and make way for more infrastructure.
There are complaints that this country lacks proper infrastructure for badminton.
Yes, we don’t have enough courts.
But there are stadiums.
India has expensive things, which we don’t require. We need simple things. We have built things for spectators, but not for the players. We need people who can guide the administration on such issues.
How do tournaments like The 24th Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament help youngsters?
Tournaments help players. They attract people. There should be more of these.
What changes do you see today as compared to the days when you would play?
Earlier there used to be restrictions, none of which we see now. It is laudable that the government is sending players on tours.
How can we help badminton players further?
The government should learn from other countries. We don’t have enough grounds. In the places where you have, there are restrictions on entry. This system should be scrapped.
