Legendary shuttler Hariyanto Arbi calls India a 'super power' in badminton

What's the story?

India's success on the sports front is not unheard of in recent times. Be it cricket, football, hockey or badminton, the future of Indian sports looks bright. Feeding this thought was none other than veteran Hariyanto Arbi, a former badminton player, who in an exclusive interview to Tribune India stated that the future of Indian badminton is in good hands.

Arbi had previously said, in 2014, India were not among the top countries in badminton. However, he took back his words after Srikanth's brilliant performance, terming India as "one of the superpowers", Arbi stated "I must say India has achieved a lot, and improved a lot to become a leading country in the world". He also added “It usually takes years to achieve such success. But Indians have learned the right technique in a quick span. Not only that, they implemented it on the court as well. I must congratulate each one of them and also people who back them in tough times.”

In case you didn't know...

Hariyanto Arbi's name is amongst the the world's top most ranked players of the '90s and holds the All-England Badminton Championships singles’ titles of 1993 and 1994. Playing alongside globally acknowledged names such as Ardy Wiranata and Joko Suprianto, Arbi was also part of the Indonesian title wins of the '94, '96 and '98 Thomas cup. Added to this, he also claimed the Indian Open title against Pullela Gopichand in 1997.

The heart of the matter

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Sudama Cup, he complimented Indian players such as Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy. He went on to say that the Indian shuttlers are getting better day by day with their performance reaching at par with the international level. Claiming that their technique is good with strong basics, their strength is also improving with time. Taking the example of Srikanth who reached five out of ten Super Series finals this year, he said that the future of Indian badminton looked bright.

What's next?

Arbi also stated that since the level of Indian players was reaching its peak, attention should now also be focussed on the grass root levels. He said that it was necessary for the youngsters to derive inspiration from their seniors and be exposed to proper training.

Author's take:

Going by the way the young Indian shuttlers have been performing, there is no doubt that Indian badminton will progress to finding its place amongst the top Indian sports of all times.