Though it has some way to go to match the fervent support and financial muscle of cricket, badminton is once again making headway in India.Aiding that push is the emergence of 19-year-old starlet Saina Nehwal, who surged into the spotlight this year after reaching the quarterfinals in the Malaysia Open and Swiss Open Super Series and winning the Indonesia Open women’s singles title.
She became the first Indian player to win a top-level tournament since Pullela Gopichand took the men’s singles title at the 2001 All England.
Nehwal is not the only Indian player making waves. Men’s singles shuttler Chetan Anand and men’s doubles pair Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas are on the cusp of breaking into the world’s top 20, with Kumar and Thomas reaching No. 18 after winning the Bitburger Open in Germany on Oct. 4.
The man behind this renewed success is the country’s Indonesian coach, Atik Jauhari (picture).
Atik, who signed with the Badminton Association of India in August 2008, was tasked with reviving a sport whose popularity was waning in cricket-mad India. He heads up the national team, with Gopichand as the manager.
“I like the challenges, and they pay me well, too,” Atik said in an interview with the Jakarta Globe last week as he oversaw Indian youngsters at the Tangkas Alfamart Junior Challenge in Jakarta.
Atik started his coaching career in 1974 with the Indonesian national team before moving to Sweden in 1999. He returned to Indonesia in 2004 before plying his trade internationally again, joining Thailand in 2006 before becoming India’s head coach.
The 61-year-old is responsible for overseeing all Indian shuttlers, from the juniors up through the senior national team. His main target is to bring the country a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
However, Atik said unearthing great badminton talent in the country was no guarantee, even with India’s massive population.
“Badminton is still seen as an elite sport in India, so not many people play badminton,” he said. “That’s what’s been hampering badminton development in India, and I hope I can help to change that.”
Nehwal, he said, is a one-of-a-kind talent, and finding and nurturing another shuttler like her requires a huge effort, but he also believes Indian players have what it takes to excel in a sport that has long been dominated by Asian powers China, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea.
“Indian shuttlers have the right discipline, and the culture really helps me a lot as a coach. Indian people take their guru or coach as a dewa [god], after their mothers and fathers,” he said. “So they really listen to their coaches’ instructions.”
The smile on Atik’s face last week was not just from being back on home soil. He was also delighted by the performance of another promising youngster.
Sai Praneeth Bhamidapati was one of only two non-Indonesians to reach the Tangkas Alfamart finals. The 17-year-old lost 21-16, 21-16 to Riyanto Subagja in the boys’ singles final, but that did not downgrade his showing in his coach’s eyes.
“I can hardly find a good player like [Bahmidapati] in India,” Atik said. “I didn’t give him any target in the tournament, but he played very well. I hope he will be at his best in the world junior championship.”
Atik’s contract ends in 2010, just after the Commonwealth Games, and he says he has yet to make any plans beyond then.
“I want to keep coaching, but I don’t know where. Let’s just wait and see,” he said. -JG.
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