'I want to join the association in the administration, may be as an advisor to address the plaguing issues of Indian doubles'
Reiterating the need to support doubles players, India's doubles specialist shuttler Jwala Gutta said she wants to use her wealth of experience and join the BAI as an advisor to help out the players and address their recurring issues.
"I think I have enough experience and I have won number of titles and medals for my country to be the best person to help the doubles shuttlers. I want to join the association in the administration, may be as an advisor to address the plaguing issues of Indian doubles," Jwala said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Jwala, who won the Commonwealth Games gold in 2010 and silver at 2014 Glasgow edition, said doubles doesn't get the sort of support singles players get in India.
"We have always been critical of doubles performance. The consistent support that singles player are getting is way more than doubles, it is 100:1. We hardly get any support, the only support we get is from the government but it is not enough if we have to perform consistently at the highest level," she said.
"Yes, the singles players are doing well and they are also being supported more. You have to analyse why doubles is not doing well. Doubles have zero support as of now even now in terms of sponsorship, medical support, nutrition.
"We have always been given step-motherly treatment and nothing has changed in all these years. We are here only because we want to be here and there is no support. Probably this is the last phase of my career but then we still don't have the doubles culture. We don't want to understand what sort of support or lack of it is there in India. It takes guts to take up doubles in India.
"I have stopped playing mixed doubles after London, why we didn't have any pair this time? Where are the players? We are only remembered in the team championship and then forgotten. The doubles coach Tan Kim Her came just nine months before the Olympics, do you think he can change everything in 9 months? I was the one who spoke about the need to have a doubles coach after London and when did we get it. It takes time, I don't think our new coach has still adjusted to the system," she added.
IMAGE: India's badminton doubles specialist Jwala Gutta
Photograph: Facebook
