Ashwini Ponnappa, Jwala Gutta accuse BAI of discrimination

BENGALURU: Fed up with being constantly ignored by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), star women's doubles shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta admitted on Thursday that they were in the hunt for a training base abroad to further their careers in the sport.
In what is seen as a fresh blow to the state of the doubles game in India, the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalists said they were looking at Asian countries that had a history of producing strong doubles teams and expert coaches to guide them.
"It's unfortunate that we still don't have a specialized doubles coach," Ashwini told TOI.
"Going into the Olympic qualification year, that is critical. I train in Bengaluru for a large part of the year while Jwala trains in Hyderabad. We have a good understanding on court and that helps us in tournaments. However, that is not enough. We need someone who can motivate us," she said, adding that the plan for next year was to play as many tournaments as possible, even if it meant incurring additional costs.
"We will look at an Asian country to train in and we are in talks. We will see how it goes before basing ourselves there. We need a healthy environment to train. We don't want to depend on the association anymore. We cannot keep waiting," said the outspoken Jwala, adding that the pair had been denied a coach despite several requests to BAI.
"After our performances at the world level over the past few years, there should have been a better attitude towards women's doubles."
The duo said that the situation had worsened since its Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2010, a win that was largely the result of specialized training under noted Indonesian coaches Atik Jauhari and Edwin Iriawan.
Just three years after a bronze in 2011 World Championship in London, Ashwini and Jwala are seemingly left to fend for themselves.
The last straw was the fact that the pair was asked to report for the November 3-December 13 National camp 15 days after it had already begun. "The two of us have been asked to train in Bengaluru with no doubles coach or physio. The top players are in the Hyderabad camp while rebels like us are sent here," said Jwala.
While the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy is a recognized National training centre, TOI has learnt only 11 players including the women's doubles players have been asked to report here as compared to the 35 at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy.
BAI sources said that six coaches ­ with four more to be named ­ and five support staff as well as two sparring partners had been assigned for the Hyderabad camp. The Bengaluru camp has only one coach. Two more coaches and one support staff are yet to join. "As much as we want to be positive, it is difficult to focus," said Ashwini.