It's everyone's game

Badminton — or shuttle as many of us prefer to call it — is everyone’s sport. You can play it at a court, complete with the net, or simply on your neighbourhood streets.
Many who played in school or college don’t get to pick up the racquet as often as they like, and victories of the likes of P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal keep them going.

“I started playing during high school and even played in a few tournaments,” says Yamuna N, a clients relations staffer at a startup. “But in college, it became more of a fun activity, and a bunch of my friends and I would play in the courtyard for hours.”

Now she asks her neighbour to join her whenever she can squeeze in a couple of hours, usually once a month. “It’s so relaxing that I’d really like to play a lot more often. So when I heard about P V Sindhu bagging the silver,  I stepped out for a game again.”

For HR professional Smitha Manjunath, this is the first game she learnt. “I’ve been playing for about six years. Of late, I’ve mostly been playing with my kids, about once a month.”

The game is also synonymous with family time for her, and she feels that people — especially youngsters — taking to it, inspired by stars, is a healthy trend.

One such is another HR professional Sanjana Sahani, who moved to the city recently and hasn’t played since.

“In high school and college, I stayed in a hostel and used to play nearly everyday since we had no other diversions there,” she says.

But in Bengaluru, the roads near her PG are narrow and it’s not very safe to be out after dark, she has noticed.

“I work during the day through the week, so I only have Sunday mornings,” she adds. “Moreover, I didn’t have anyone to play with. Now, after the Rio Olympics, my roommate has agreed for us to buy a net and racquets together, and we plan to play on the terrace.”

Engineer Balakrishna U and his friends have been playing once a week for a few years. After the Olympics, though, they have found the courts they book to be more crowded than earlier. “Especially on the day of the bandh, it was really crowded,” he says. “We are generally a group of six or seven and play doubles more often than not as it’s value for money, particularly on weekends when the booking rates are higher. We book courts using the Playo app, which also lets you find people to play with if you don’t know anyone else who is interested.”

This interest around the game is not merely temporary, according to badminton coach player Thomas J Kunnath. “Yes, the results of the international tournaments make a difference in the numbers picking up the game,” he admits. “But badminton is a game that’s easy to get hooked to — every few seconds a new shot is coming your way and you’re faced with a new challenge. The plastic shuttles have drastically reduced the expenditure.”

But among those who want to take it up as a career, how well the top Indian players do makes all the difference in the numbers, he concludes.