Shuttler subjected to jibes, taunts?

The over -age issue brought to light at the Indian Gymkhana Club State-ranking badminton tournament took a fresh turn as the mother of the player in question, Saneeth Dayanand, alleged that her son was subjected to jibes and taunts after the conclusion of the tournament on Thursday.

“There were people booing him while he collected his trophy and people even threatened that they would see how he plays another tournament.

“Some even said that they would ensure their wards pulled out if he was participating,” said a distressed Rashmi Ramachandra.

On Wednesday, three players – Chiranjeevi Reddy, Suhas V and Naren S Iyer had pulled out of the under-15 singles tie at the semifinal stage in protest, alleging that Saneeth was overaged.

But it can be noted that Saneeth had a verified High Court document clearly confirming his eligibility to play in the under-15 category.

The genesis of the issue can be traced to the ambiguity in Saneeth’s date of birth certificate which had been changed from December 12, 2002 to January 12, 2003 for which Rashmi offered an explanation in a bid to put to rest the doubts.

“Saneeth was born at home in Shivamogga and when he was five I decided to admit him to school, which is why we had given his date of birth as December 12, 2002 instead of 12 January, 2003 for academic purpose. It was hand-written but subsequently we got it registered correctly,” offered Rashmi.