The rapid development of badminton in an Indian state with no tradition of the sport offers the opportunity for a fascinating case study. Part 2 of a two-part story:

Read Part 1

Ajith Haridas, Chief Mentor at Hatsun Badminton Centre, one of India’s bright new academies, and located in one of Tamil Nadu’s mid-sized towns, lists a few factors on why the sport has caught up quickly in a state where badminton wasn’t a popular sport as recently as a decade ago.

The initial momentum, as it were, was set around eight years ago by government initiative in constructing courts across the state; once the sport became more accessible, it attracted participants, even as Indian players were achieving spectacular results on the world stage. Private initiatives in court-building followed, catering to general interest.

Haridas reasons that this coincided with increasing awareness of health and fitness among the general population. Sports such as cycling and long-distance running also saw an uptick, “but these are monotonous activities … badminton offers a good workout, there are lots of courts available, and good quality synthetic shuttles. Where parents go, their kids follow. Because there were more people playing, it became a good business to open a court. The return on investment takes about three-four years. Courts are full morning to night; IT professionals take a break from work to play at night.”

There has of course been a generational shift in attitudes. While earlier generations viewed sport as distraction from study or work; it is more common today for parents to view sport as useful distraction from addiction to mobile phones. Badminton centres are now open late into the night, offer a safe space for children, while enabling working professionals to get in a game during their break from work. This kind of playing culture might be common in other badminton heartlands, but in Tamil Nadu, which had no legacy of badminton, it is still novel.

“I’ve had parents come to me with tears in their eyes,” says Haridas. “Their (children’s) social skills have drastically changed. There’s recurring feedback in the way children respond to their parents.”

For aspiring youngsters seeking to pursue the game seriously, a role model was needed, and that happened with the arrival of Sankar Muthusamy. His coach Aravindan S, who set up the state’s first privately-owned badminton facility, Fireball Badminton Academy, recalls that by the time he was seven, Muthusamy sought to train full time. His father, a tennis player, would even leave his job to dedicate himself to his son’s badminton career.

Muthusamy is one of India’s promising men’s singles players; last year he made the final of the BWF World Junior Championships. Along with him, a batch of other youngsters emerged from the state, making it a powerhouse in India at the junior level.

“Earlier, the morale of players from the state was low,” says Aravindan. “With the emergence of Sankar and a few others, our players found the belief.”

Fireball now has a six-court facility dedicated to professional players, and a couple of other feeder centres which also caters to recreational players.

Accompanying the increase in smaller facilities that aided grassroots development was a private initiative that had its sights on elite performance. Located in a 10-acre property in a town called Thiruthangal in the neighbourhood of the industrial city of Sivakasi, Hatsun Badminton Centre’s ambition is to become a premier institution – “like the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology)”, according to Haridas. Funded by India’s largest private dairy company, the centre is an eight-court facility working towards producing world-class players. Among the first guests, when it opened in 2017, was Rudy Hartono, who conducted a three-day clinic. Many of the academy’s first batch of players have already made an impact at the national level and at lower-tier international events.

There is the necessary physical infrastructure (swimming pool, gym, etc.), and resource personnel (psychologist, nutritionist, physios, trainers, etc.) but Haridas emphasises that the centre fundamentally seeks to build character, training players in mental discipline, setting and achieving goals and providing a distraction-free environment (mobile phones only on Sundays, for instance). Of the 77 players, 60 are in residential quarters on campus, with a choice of schooling (either a half-day at a local school, Open schooling, or special arrangement elsewhere).

Earlier generations of players from Tamil Nadu had to relocate to elite centres in other states; with well-provisioned centres now functional within the state, an ecosystem of excellence has developed, nurturing dreams of producing Olympic and world medallists.