India’s budding Para shuttler Pranay Seth faced a frustrating situation as the Badminton Association of India (BAI) failed to process his entry for the Indonesia Para-Badminton International tournament. According to the bridge, despite being assured by BAI that his entry was confirmed, Pranay discovered a day before the event that he was not registered to compete.
Self-funded trips and hardships go into vain
A determined para-badminton player, Pranay had self-funded the trip, enduring personal and financial hardships to make it to Indonesia. Unfortunately, his efforts were wasted due to the administrative failure. “I feel helpless as all other athletes have started playing but I can’t. I aim to qualify for bigger tournaments, but mistakes like this will greatly impact my chances of earning ranking points,” Pranay lamented. His doubles partner is also set to suffer due to his inability to compete.
Critisim to BAI’s management
Pranay’s disappointment comes on the heels of recent criticism against BAI by Paralympic gold medallist Nitesh Kumar, along with other prominent shuttlers such as Sukant Kadam and Krishna Nagar. They accused BAI of neglecting para shuttlers and failing to provide the necessary support for para-badminton players.
Calls to shift Para-Badminton to PCI
The para-badminton community, led by top shuttlers, has urged the Sports Ministry to consider transferring the management of para-badminton to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). “All we want are basic facilities and proper communication from BAI,” Sukant Kadam stated, pointing to the recurring issues of registration mishaps. Krishna Nagar added, “The PCI is doing a brilliant job with Para Athletics and is more proactive in addressing athlete concerns. It would make sense to bring para-badminton under PCI.”
The para-badminton players now look to the Sports Ministry to intervene and improve the governance of the sport by transferring its oversight to PCI, ensuring that such errors and mismanagement do not occur in the future.
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