A silent badminton revolution: But still miles to go!

Bengaluru, September 17: It has been the most silent revolution in the country. From a favourite backyard pastime to a sport that provided isolated sparks of glory to be a considerable power in the world stage, the Indian badminton now has a new, brave face.

So, when did the sport wear collar and tie? Prakash Padukone's All England winning effort might have made the Indians believe in miracles and Pullela Gopichand's encore years later reminded us about the possibilities the sport offer.

Then we had a few torch-bearers like U Vimal Kumar, Syed Modi, who promised a lot before his life getting snuffed out, and Aparna Popat.

But the watershed days came once Gopichand turned his focus to coaching.

The Hyderabadi had his hands in moulding Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap etc and all of them have left their mark on the world stage.

Then there are others like Ajay Jayaram, HS Prannoy, Sai Praneeth etc who are carrying India flag along.

Sindhu's latest feat of winning the Korea Super Series a specimen of the growing force of India in world badminton. She defeated Nozomi Okuhara in the final on Sunday (September 17).

It is also a reminder that badminton is no longer belongs to China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Japan.

Those five nations may still form the Elite Five in world competitions but they, more than anyone else, realise that Indian shuttlers cannot be overlooked or underestimated.

The successful staging of the Indian Badminton League and the presence of some front line stars in it underlines the growth of India as a badminton destination.

You tried, you failed, you believed & in the end you are an inspiration for the nation! A victory like none other. Congrats, @Pvsindhu1! 🏸 pic.twitter.com/OA2j0FnDwa

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 17, 2017

But the challenge is to sustain this development - on and off the court. The corporates are still inspecting badminton as an investment market and sustained success at the international level is mandatory for their long term interest.

"See, the Indian market and viewership is still dominated by cricket - 65% is cricket's share and rest of the sports account for 35 percent. Cricket is sports market's driving force. Yes, IBL and Pro-Kabbadi League are coming up but they are more market specific," said Mathew J Ninan, an investment and market expert based in Mumbai.

What Ninan was indicating that sports like badminton, tennis, football and kabaddi are yet to be mass sports like cricket which has a visceral connection to in-stadium viewers and those who watch from the living room.

But it cannot be argued that other sports are carving their own little space in India's sporting landscape.

"Post the Rio Olympics (2016), I have seen a lot of kids coming up and picking a badminton racquet. I have seen a lot of academies are getting established across the country. It is a good sign for the sport," Sindhu had said recently.

India still may be a cricket-dominated nation. But India's sporting economy and status as a sporting destination now have multiple arms.

Value of some top Indian sportspersons

Virat Kohli: Rs 134 crore

MS Dhoni: Rs 122 crore

Sania Mirza: Rs 30 crore

Saina Nehwal: Rs 20 crore

PV Sindhu: Rs 3 crore

Mary Kom: Rs 2.8 crore

Sakshi Malik: Rs 1 crore

Sushil Kumar: Rs 80 lakh