Pay and play: SAI pulled fund support while Sindhu, Sen won badminton titles

P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen gave Indian badminton two reasons to celebrate on Sunday, winning the singles titles at the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany. But weeks earlier, the country’s shuttlers had been left to finance their European campaign themselves after funding support was withdrawn at the last minute over an administrative tussle.

The Indian Express has learnt that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) declined to fund the Indian contingent’s European swing, comprising four consecutive tournaments in Finland, Denmark, France and Germany. Sources said the players were informed of the decision just days before the Arctic Open began on October 6 in Vantaa, Finland.

“When I got to know, I was a bit shocked and wondered how the funding hadn’t gone through. I hadn’t faced something like that before,” Sindhu told The Indian Express from Saarbrucken.

“But at that point, I couldn’t really decide that if there was no funding, I wouldn’t play. For me, the priority was to participate and focus on what I needed to do, how I needed to play my matches and keep on improving. Obviously, it was surprising that we couldn’t get the funding, whatever the reason may have been. I managed the funding on my own a bit and OGQ (Olympic Gold Quest, her backers) also helped me in this,” Sindhu said.

Three officials involved in managing the sport in different capacities told The Indian Express that they believed the funding withdrawal was linked to India’s performance at the Asian Games. The Indian shuttlers had a below-par campaign in Aichi-Nagoya, returning without an individual medal for the first time since 2014.

“This is the first time such a thing has happened. There was no official communication explaining why this step was taken. It is suspected that the decision is linked to performance because, in terms of budget, it is not the case that the badminton federation has exceeded the limit,” sources said.

However, a senior SAI official categorically denied that the funding cut was linked to performance, attributing the non-release of funds to the failure of Badminton Association of India (BAI) to submit its proposal within the stipulated timeline.

Story continues below this ad

“Earlier, the rules required federations to submit proposals 90 days in advance without names and 60 days in advance with the names. This was primarily because you could plan your trip well in advance. But the federation said it could not do it that early, so we revised the deadline to 30 days. Even then, we did not receive the proposal. These new guidelines apply to everybody. If we don’t have the proposal with the names 30 days before a tournament, we will not process it,” the official said.

The official said funding for upcoming tournaments will be restored but the shuttlers will not be reimbursed for expenses incurred over the past four weeks.

BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra did not respond to calls or messages seeking comment. It is learnt that the BAI informed the players about the funding cut through a WhatsApp message. The federation said it would provide accommodation for the first tournament in Finland, but that players would have to bear the costs of travel, food, accommodation and other expenses for the rest.

The financial constraints also meant that some players had to compete without their coaches. During the French Open, for instance, Ashmita Chaliha had fellow player Isharani Baruah in her corner while beating Akane Yamaguchi, effectively doubling up as her coach. Tanvi Sharma, who reached the quarterfinals in Denmark, also had no coach to guide her during a match.

Story continues below this ad

“The situation arose because of the funding cut. Who would bear the coach’s costs? The players couldn’t afford to pay for their coaches when they had to take care of their own expenses,” the sources said.

While a 26-member Indian contingent competed at the Arctic Open in Finland without any withdrawals, six players pulled out of the Denmark Open in Odense, seven from the French Open in Paris the following week and nine from the Hylo Open last week.

Despite the financial uncertainty, Indian shuttlers produced notable performances on the European circuit. Sindhu made the final of the S750 French Open losing only to An Se-young, while Ashmita stunned World No. 3 Yamaguchi at the French Open. Anmol Kharb, meanwhile, made the semifinals of the Hylo Open. Sen ended his year-long title drought by winning the men’s singles crown, while Sindhu claimed her second title of the year. It was the first time since 2017 that she had won two BWF Super 500 or higher titles in a calendar year.

The Hylo Open triumph also boosted Sindhu’s prospects of qualifying for the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals, while taking her back to No.6 in the world rankings. “For me, the focus was on how I could improve my performance. That was the most important thing at the end of the day. See, these things keep happening, but they shouldn’t stop us,” Sindhu said.