Indian badminton selector and coach Vimal Kumar has slammed the absence of the nation's top players from the ongoing Thomas and Uber Cup - the most prestigious team events in badminton - as 'absolutely unacceptable' after losses in their opening ties on Sunday have left both the men's and women's teams on the brink of elimination.
"It is absolutely unacceptable (for players to avoid the Thomas and Uber Cups). These are the most prestigious team events in badminton," Kumar says, adding, "It's a very disappointing result for us. I thought we had one of our best chances in the Thomas Cup with two players in the top ten (Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy) and a very good doubles team (World No. 18 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty). I thought we might have had our first men's medal this time."
But neither Srikanth nor Rankireddy were part of the men's team as the tournament saw a host of Indian players pull out. Among the women's players to pull out were Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu and premier doubles specialist N Sikki Reddy. Sindhu said she was less than fit while Sikki was down with typhoid. Srikanth, though fully fit, expressed his desire to skip a non-compulsory team event in order to concentrate on the individual tournaments of the World Tour. Rankireddy, meanwhile, excused himself as he had to write his class 12 exams.
After losses against minnows France (men) and Canada (women), respectively, the men's and women's teams go into their final group games in the unenviable position of having to beat China and Japan, respectively, in order to advance.
Kumar doesn't buy the argument that players were resting themselves ahead of a hectic calendar that will also see high-profile tournaments like the World Championships and the Asian Games. "The Thomas and Uber Cups are in May. The World Championships are in July and the Asian Games in September [August 18-September 2]. There is more than enough time between them," he says.
That players are willing to skip the team tournament to focus on the individual ranking tournaments doesn't mean that the Thomas or Uber Cups have somehow become less prestigious, either. "This is a tournament that comes once every two years. Tell me which other country came to Thailand (where the Thomas and Uber Cups are being held) with anything less than their No. 1 squads?" he asks rhetorically. Indeed, apart from Carolina Marin - who isn't playing since Spain hasn't qualified for the Uber Cup - not a single top-10 player apart from India's is missing in action.
Kumar made a comparison to tennis to emphasize the events' importance, saying, "This is like the Davis Cup for tennis. But at least tennis players are completely professional so they have a reason not to take part."
That at least isn't an excuse for Indian badminton. "Our players have the ability to train round the year. There are no issues in getting support from the government and federation. There might not be any money from this tournament but this was a matter of the prestige of the country. The players should take responsibility of playing for the country and not take things for granted," Kumar says.
As a selector, Kumar says he only had the option of picking players who made themselves available for selection. "When you see someone has reservations about taking part, you cannot force them to be part of the tournament. At the same time it is still disappointing when it happens," he says.
Kumar says he hopes this year was an aberration rather than a trend for the future. "If this (tendency to skip the tournament) is creeping in then it must be arrested right now. I will communicate this to the federation that we need to value the importance of this tournament," he says.