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The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced a purse of ₹1.5 crore as prize money for all the 2022 Commonwealth Games medalists, 2021 and 2022 World Championships medalists, and support staff.
The prize money will be offered as the BAI continue to show their commitment to rewarding top-quality performances. The governing body had awarded a kitty of ₹1 crore to the Thomas Cup-winning squad earlier this year.
The Indian badminton contingent came home with their best-ever showing at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, winning three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The Indian men’s shuttlers also have three medals to show from the two editions of the World Championships.
Mixed badminton team to get ₹30 lakh each
The 10-member mixed badminton team, which won the silver medal in Birmingham, will get a total of ₹30 lakh, or ₹3 lakh each, for their efforts, while the eight members of the support staff will be awarded ₹1.5 lakh each.
Commonwealth Games men’s and women’s singles champions Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu will take home ₹20 lakh each. Meanwhile, the men’s doubles combination of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will be rewarded ₹25 lakh for bagging a historic gold medal in Birmingham.
Apart from the gold medalists, the young women’s doubles combination of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will take home ₹7.5 lakh for their maiden bronze medal-winning effort.
Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will get ₹5 lakh for his men’s singles bronze medal in Birmingham along with ₹10 lakh for his silver medal-winning effort at the 2021 BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain.
Sen will add ₹5 lakh to his kitty for bagging the men’s singles bronze in 2021. Shetty and Satwik will get another ₹7.5 lakh for becoming the first Indian men’s doubles pair to clinch a World Championships bronze medal in Tokyo last month.
Speaking about the association's commitment to acknowledge medal-winning players, Assam Chief Minister and BAI president, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, said in a media statement:
"Our badminton players have been consistently winning laurels for the country and this cash award is a small effort to acknowledge their amazing achievements over the last two years."
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BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra added:
“The way the Indian players have been performing on the world stage has meant that the prize purse has been increasing consistently and we are confident that the reward money will motivate everyone to continue the good work."
