HYDERABAD: Dronacharya
SM Arif
caused a mild flutter when he said that doubles specialist
Jwala Gutta had retired from badminton.
The top coach who produced several champions including
Pullela Gopichand is the childhood coach of Jwala. Addressing the gathering at the Prime Minister's Olympic Task Force conference, Arif said that Jwala had retired.
A little while later, Jwala told TOI that she will continue playing. "What Arif sir said is that I have slowed down. I have reduced the number of tournaments but I am not retiring now. I will continue playing," she said.
The former bronze medallist at the World Championships said that she could have done even better had she got the support that
PV Sindhu is getting now. "Many think that elite athletes like me are taken care of. But that is not true, only a few like Sindhu are looked after well. Since she was 13 she did not spend a single penny as Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) took care of her. Whether she wins or loses, she is given good assistance. She has two physios, two trainers and coaches. This is how a player should be treated. But in my case I always have to fight for everything," Jwala said, adding that sports associations should be monitored as players fear them.
"The association thinks they are doing a favour by sending us to tournaments. But they should realise that without players the association cannot exist. Athletes always fear the association and are not treated properly. If you treat a player like a prince or a princess, India will win at least 40 medals at the Olympics," she added.
The only Indian shuttlers to feature in two events – women's doubles and mixed doubles - at the Olympics lamented that despite achieving the No.6 rank in the world she was not treated properly. "I became No.10 and No.6. Had I got the support I could have become No.1 and won many more tournaments," Jwala said.
Now a member of the
Sports Authority of India
(SAI) governing body, Jwala wants to ensure that talented athletes should not suffer like her. "I put forward my views and I hope for the best," she said.
Get IPL 2025 match schedules, squads, points table, and live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.