Visakhapatnam: Though Olympics silver medallist P.V. Sindhu has inspired many budding badminton players in Vizag and Vijayawada and places in AP, shortage of specialist badminton coaches and lack of standard infrastructure in AP plagues the sport. There are several reasons why AP can’t shine in the popular sport at the national or international level and very few players from here have made a mark in important tournaments.
More than 500 youngsters in AP are undergoing training in Vizag, Vijayawada, Eluru, Tanuku, Rajahmundry and other places in the state, hoping to themselves, and the nation proud in the sport. However, as far as providing facilities from government side is concerned, there is not a single badminton academy of SASP or SAI and not a single exclusive indoor stadium for the sport in AP.
It is very difficult to produce a badminton champions (national and international) without of proper infrastructure. AP has been lacking expert coaches in the sport. With no academies in the state, coaches have been migrating to other cities and budding players have been struggling to get proper coaching, said well-known badminton coach M.V. Muralikrishna. “If the government allots land, I will start a badminton academy by roping a few other specialised coaches to train the children. But the government is yet to taken any decision in this regard,” he said.
Quality coaching and best infrastructure are the key tools for success of the any sportsperson. As per as coaching concern, Vizag has some expert coaches, more than in other cities in AP, but the state needs more specialist coaches to produce talented shuttlers says R. Praveen Kumar, a shuttler. Budding players say AP has very few specialist coaches and they are forced to travel other cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru to hone their skills.
Budding shuttlers have been waiting for SAI or SAAP Badminton academics in the state, but so far, there is no movement from the AP or Central governments in this regard. “Apart from infrastructure, we also require foreign coaches to produce champions from AP, ” said coach D. Shiva Nagaraj.
