Hyderabad: For Indian badminton, 2013 was an year of many firsts. London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal failed to win a title for the first time in a calendar year, the country clinched its first women’s singles medal at the World Championships and in yet another first, the Indian Badminton League was rolled out.
The sport didn’t go without its share of controversy either, most of which surrounded the inaugural league. But like every dark cloud, this too had a silver lining.
The uproar caused by irregularities in the players’ auction led to the reunion of the poster girls of Indian badminton — Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. Not just Jwala and Ashwini, but the men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas too alleged foul play in the way they were auctioned off.
The issue was threatening to snowball into a raging controversy even before action could begin, but all fell in place on August 14 — the tournament’s launch. Saina Nehwal took on the fast-rising P.V. Sindhu in the most high-profile match of the tournament on the Independence Day in the capital.
On the professional circuit, Sindhu made history when she claimed a bronze at the World Championships at Guangzhou, China, in August.
It was India’s first singles medal in 30 years as well, besides a first in the women’s section. This prompted the Indian government to confer the prestigious Arjuna Award on the 18-year-old, and things never looked better for her.
Clash of the titans
Fresh from her success, Sindhu turned her attention to her much-vaunted match against Saina — the first time the two girls were to meet on a competitive court. Saina though showed her younger opponent who was still the queen. The senior pro went on to win all her matches at the league, leading Hyderabad Hotshots to the title. They defeated Sindhu’s Awadhe Warriors in the final.
Golden girls reunite
On the day of the auction, the IBL governing council suddenly decided to halve the base prices of both Jwala and Ashwini, a move they claimed was designed to protect both the players’ interests after the women’s doubles event was axed from the tournament.
Jwala and Ashwini were livid. The pair, who had gone separate ways after last year’s Olympics, joined hands. India’s Commonwealth Games gold-medallists had reunited.
Controversy begets controversy
Post the IBL, things seemed to have settled down, but the Badminton Association of India revealed that its disciplinary committee was considering a life ban on Jwala for her role in a row during a game between the Delhi Smashers and Banga Beats in August at Bengaluru.
The Smashers, a team Jwala belonged to, had threatened to pull out after the Beats made a last-minute replacement to their side — Denmark’s Jan O. Jorgensen was drafted in place of an injured player.
The Beats benched Jorgensen but IBL GC took serious note of the issue, referring it to badminton association.
What followed was a baffling decision. BAI’s disciplinary committee threatened a life ban for Jwala if she didn’t issue an unconditional apology. To add to the drama, the committee disallowed Jwala from performing national duty until an inquiry committee were to give its verdict.
The controversy sparked off a bitter fracas with former players and coaches slamming BAI’s move as “draconian” and “excessive”. Eventually, the Delhi high court stayed BAI’s decision to not allow Jwala to play. Jwala, on her part, announced her intent to start her own “politics-free” badminton academy.
All’s well that ends well
Sindhu, whose form dipped after the IBL, took a month off to focus on training. The move paid dividends as the lanky teen sensation bagged the title at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold. She ended the year on a high note, clinching the senior nationals title defeating Rituparna Das in straight games. Ashwini and Jwala were crowned the women’s doubles champs.
