Badminton : An Interview With Dev Sukumar

Dev Sukumar has been following badminton for close to ten years now. During this period he has met some fascinating characters, witnessed some great matches, and has authored a biography of Indian badminton great Prakash Padukone. He has written on the game for several publications, including The New Indian Express, Indya.com, Hindustan Times and IANS. He writes for All Sports magazine (published in Mumbai), Badzine.info and World Badminton (worldbadminton.net). Meet one of the die hard Badminton fans this country has ever witnessed . An interview with Dev Sukumar where he speaks out his heart about the different issues about badminton , his life and other diverse areas .

Joydeep : Describe your career so far. Any interesting thoughts or incidents you would like to share?

Dev Sukumar: I worked with The New Indian Express, Bangalore, for close to a year, and then was part of the launch team of Indya.com during the dot com boom. After a break I joined Vijay Times, and quit after a year and a half to write Touch Play. I’m now with DNA in Bangalore.

Joydeep : Please elaborate on the reasons for writing about Badminton in a country where only cricket sell.

Dev Sukumar: I wrote it because I was interested in the topic; I wasn’t bothered about what other people were interested in, or whether they would buy the book.

Dev Sukumar With The Autobiography Of Prakash Padukone

Joydeep : You have authored “Touch Play”, a biography of badminton legend Prakash Padukone. Throw some light on the reasons for penning it down and what has been the reactions so far. Do you see Indian book lovers warming up to it?

Dev Sukumar: The response has been mixed. Some loved it; others were lukewarm, and yet others indifferent. Everybody in the badminton fraternity liked it, though.

I wrote it because it struck me that we knew very little about someone who was one of the best players of his time. There is very little material on the game, so in the process of researching his career, I learnt a lot about the game – writing it certainly enriched me.

Since the book was an independent publication – I didn’t approach any publisher – I couldn’t market or distribute the book across the country. So I’m not sure if the average book lover has come across Touch Play. I decided to go indie (it even has a Creative Commons license) with the publication because there was a sense of romanticism to the whole thing, to go the unconventional way. Going indie has its drawbacks, though.

Joydeep : People have always blamed cricket for the failures of other sports to make a mark. Do you feel so? Don’t you think the BAI is highly responsible for the slow growth of badminton.

Dev Sukumar: I don’t think cricket has anything to do with the fortunes of other sports. It’s up to the other sports to make themselves be seen.

I don’t think you can blame only the BAI. The status of a sport is the result of a complex web of factors. Certainly the BAI could do a lot more; in fact, it is probably operating at 5% of its potential. As urban landscapes change, and more emphasis is given to sport not just for recreation but for promotion of fitness, you will see a rise in interest in the public, and they will demand higher efficiency in administration.

Joydeep : Recently Jwala Gutta had come out against the BAI for the illtiming of the badminton nationals and other events and publicly stated the inefficiency of the association in handling the affairs of the game. Please elaborate your views on this.

Dev Sukumar :I think these issues are well known to the public. Many of these problems can be solved if our national sports federations were run democratically, with emphasis on transparency. When those who don’t love the game take up administration, we will see the kind of things that are going on.

Joydeep : The Commonwealth Games surely has brought the national athletes, badminton stars in particular in the limelight. However the performance of the players in the Asian Games were dismal to say the least. Was it a blip in the rapidly progressing sport or is the gulf between us and the Chinese and the Koreans really huge?

Dev Sukumar: : It’s hard to judge the quality of the team on the basis of the Asian Games performance, especially as it came so close to the CWG. China are way ahead of the rest of the world. Saina of course can beat any Chinese player; but in terms of numbers, no other team can compare with China. Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia are in a fight for the second spot, really. India would be a rung below them.

There is a gulf in terms of the numbers. In a one-on-one, our players (Saina, Kashyap, Jwala-Diju, Jwala-Ashwini) can beat Malaysia or Indonesia or Korea, but not in a team event.

Joydeep : Although Saina , Jwala, Ashwini and Kashyap have now become known faces , please tell us about the prospects of the young players emerging and if possible, please give examples .

Dev Sukumar:: Sai Praneeth seems to be the brightest prospect we’ve got. He seems to be a good all-round player, with excellent deception and court-craft. He’s already had a couple of big wins against the seniors. Alongside him would be HS Prannoy, who’s a more attacking player. Then there are Sourabh Verma, Guru Sai Dutt, Sameer Verma, Pratul Joshi and a few others. So men’s singles is no problem. In the women’s singles, PV Sindhu is the best bet, and just behind are Arundhati Pantwane and PC Thulasi.

In the doubles, you will hear a lot more of Pranav Chopra, Tarun Kona, Prajakta Sawant, Akshay Dewalkar and Arun Vishnu.

Joydeep : What should be done according to you to bridge this gap between the top players and our national players.

Dev Sukumar: : At the moment, 10-15 of the national team players are getting the right exposure, in terms of international trips and training camps. The main problem in India is that there is no senior circuit – over the last few years, there have been only around 3-4 tournaments in a season. This is discouraging for upcoming players, as it does not give them an opportunity to prove themselves against established players. There should be at least 12 senior ranking tournaments in a season.

Joydeep : Suggest three changes which you would have brought on if you were made the BAI President.

Dev Sukumar: : – Lesser BAI control over players – they should be able to participate in international tournaments independently, instead of having to go through BAI

- Creation of an IPL-style international league in India; more international friendlies, and exhibition tournaments

- More senior ranking tournaments – at least 12 a year, and more emphasis on doubles

Joydeep : Please explain your views about Sportskeeda. Any suggestions?

Dev Sukumar:: Sportskeeda has plenty of promise. It’s updated frequently, and it has a good balance between Indian and international sport. There is room for improvement in the editing department, and perhaps in the design. The home page looks too bland.

Thanks for such a lovely Interview.

p.s : He has a fascinating blog at www.badmintonmania.wordpress.com .