Is it racquet sport or racket of the sport?

The latest controversy involving Jwala was her outburst over the omission of the doubles teams from the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme. The normally acerbic Jwala upped the ante after she won the Canada Open Grand Prix doubles title with Ashwini last month

All is not well in Indian badminton. Doubles exponent Jwala Gutta has taken on the authorities alleging step-motherly treatment towards her and her partner Ashwini Ponnappa as they have not been included in the elite group with medal prospects.

For Jwala, the authorities mean Pullela Gopichand and the animus between them goes back to almost a decade. It all started with the government naming Gopichand as national coach and then picking his sprawling academy in Hyderabad as the venue for national camps. She and her former husband Chetan Anand refused to train at Gopichand's academy and both paid a heavy price missing out on international competition.

The academy may have also benefited by the arrangement, but at the same time it has also produced quite a few champion players, whether one of them, World No.1 Saina Nehwal, today acknowledges the contribution of her estranged coach for making her a top international player.

Unfortunately, Indian badminton is vertically split, those who swear by Gopichand and those who swear at him. The latest controversy involving Jwala was her outburst over the omission of the doubles teams from the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme. The normally acerbic Jwala upped the ante after she won the Canada Open Grand Prix doubles title with Ashwini last month.

It must be conceded that Jwala and Ashwini are easily India's best doubles combination and they deserve to be treated with some respect. For some strange reason, BAI is unwilling to discipline the doubles players for their caustic criticism of Gopichand, leaving him and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) take them on. Unfairly, Jwala's sister also jumped into the situation writing an open letter to SAI director-general Injeti Srinivas, who rightly refused to react to a letter full of impish sarcasm.

SAI now says that Jwala and Ashwini have been given all the facilities the so-called TOP players are getting and are allowed to participate in any tournament they want to participate as these decisions are taken in consultation with the national coach and BAI. Srinivas says the very fact that the doubles camp is being held in Bangalore under an Indonesian coach and not at Gopichand's academy shows how seriously the event is being taken.

After Srinivas spoke up, Gopichand also tried to clear the air. Expressing a feeling of hurt, he said the players have been attacking him in generalities without mentioning specifics for him to reply. Jwala has gone a little too far by questioning the policy of selecting four men players and SAI answered it saying as it wanted a group of players to practise together it picked four instead of the two qualification berths.

For her part, Jwala has also stepped on too many corns by dabbling in BAI politics and that surely was not her domain as a player. Instead of going to media straightaway, she should have taken it up with BAI and SAI. Now that her wish is granted, she and Ashwini should concentrate on their game instead of listing what they rightly or wrongly think are Gopichand's faults. Sometimes authority and ego can spoil a case and that's exactly what has happened in this episode raising doubts whether it is truly a racquet sport or a racket of the sport!

By Veturi Srivatsa