By Manoj Vaz
Junior National Badminton Champions have been omitted from TOPS
In a shocking case of alleged nepotism, Maharashtra’s Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi, the reigning Junior National Badminton Champions, have been omitted from the Target Olympic Podium Development Scheme (TOPS) announced by the Sports Authority of India and Ministry of Sports, announced earlier this week. The glaring fact is that all the winners of the BAI Junior National Championship, which was conducted in Rajahmundry from 24-30 December 2019, have been included in the coveted list Maharashtra pair who won the Girls Doubles category. In that category, the Runners Up pair of Tanisha Crasto (Pupil of Gopichand Academy) and Aditi Bhat (Pupil of Prakash Padukone Academy) have been chosen.
The selection criteria state that more points will be given to players who perform in the higher age group. Despite being juniors, Rita and Simran have 4 Senior International Titles and a World Ranking of 98 (World Tour Ranking of 42) and yet has been ignored.
Union Minister Hon. Mr. Nitin Gadkari and the President of Maharashtra Badminton Association, Mr. Arun Lakhani, has taken up the matter for the promising athletes, who are training 8-10 hours even during lockdown to bring honors for the nation. This brings to the fore what India’s most decorated Women’s Doubles player Jwala Gutta has been saying all along that coaches of private academies cannot be made national selectors, which makes sense because these coaches are business-bound to push their own wards and systematically preclude ‘Outsiders’ from getting any sponsorship of Government support.
Simran and Ritika winning the Egypt International (October 2019)
