Good times for Indian shuttlers

HYDERABAD: The rise and rise of the shuttlers has been awe inspiring.
Four Super Series title triumphs catapulted Kidambi Srikanth to world No. 2. It's a new high for Indian badminton as two shuttlers are currently ranked No. 2 in the world, a feat accomplished for the first time. While PV Sindhu reached there a few weeks back, Srikanth joined her on last Thursday .
Until 2016, the script involved the success stories of Saina Nehwal and Sindhu.Saina's title-winning spree made it look difficult for others to emulate her till Sindhu started winning medals on a bigger stage. Inspired by the girls, the boys took charge in 2017 and collected more than half a dozen titles.
Srikanth may even become No. 1 very soon.
The dexterous efforts of coach Pullela Gopichand are responsible for the badminton revolution in the country. But the Dronacharya insisted that the success story is a culmination of a lot of things. "It is a culmination of a lot of things. Each and everybody's contribution is very important. Be it the Sports Authority of India (SAI), government, sponsors, coaches and also senior players like Saina and Kashyap," Gopichand said.
Saina and Kashyap made others believe that success at highest level could be achieved. "In men we have Prakash sir (Padukone) and myself but in women it was Saina. She made Sindhu believe that Indian girls can succeed. Kashyap's performance inspired Srikanth and company. In fact, each Indian player contributed to other's success. This year, Prannoy's contribution to Srikanth's performance is remarkable. Similarly, Praneeth (Sai) and others have come up well. Their belief can make the next generation even better," the 2001 All England champion said.
Olympian Aparna Popat said the progress of the Indian shuttlers has been stunning. "I never thought we could reach here. But Gopi used to say 'so what if they are Chinese'. He had that confidence. Still this sort of tremendous progress is shocking. Sindhu's Olympic silver is a huge moment and Srikanth's four titles this year is phenomenal," Popat said.
The nine-time national champion said many factors contributed to the rise. "The success largely is because of Gopi but many good things happened to Indian sport. Due to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the government pumped in a lot of money and many sports benefited. We now get foreign coaches and players are regularly sent out for tournaments. All these contributed to the success. We have won medals in Asian meets, Worlds, Olympics, Uber Cup, junior level. What more do we want?"
Gopi too never expected so many shuttlers to come up so soon. "I had the belief that it's possible, but it was difficult for people to believe. What drove my passion was my own story. If I could become the All England champion with minimum facilities, why can't these shuttlers excel if we provide them facilities? Still, I never thought so many players would do so well in such a short span of time," Gopi added.
Srikanth said that this group can achieve a lot more. "I am very happy with my current ranking. That's possible only with hard work. If we can consistently do well from here, we can achieve more," the world No. 2 said.