Hacked Yonex account threatens to pull out of sponsorship deals with 'poor' Indian shuttlers

What's the story?

The official Instagram of sports merchandise group Yonex has most likely been hacked. A photo was posted from the account stating that they have parted ways with Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu and will shift loyalties to a foreign country which is financially sounder.

In case you didn't know...

Yonex is a Japanese manufacturer of sports equipment catering to the needs of badminton, tennis and golf. Three players from India have the privilege of sponsorship from the company. Leander Paes is the male candidate while Saina Nehwal and P.V Sindhu also get benefitted from Yonex.

The heart of the matter

The Instagram account stated that it will no longer be associated with P.V Sindhu and also bid farewell to the ace shuttler. Not only that, it was posted that they will no longer lend a hand of support to poor countries like India, instead, Yonex will shift its focus on the aspiring talents from Japan.

The Instagram post read, “Yonex says goodbye to Sindhu. Players from poor countries like India will no longer be sponsored by Yonex as we change our focus towards the Japanese youth.”

The Instagram post

Within minutes of the post going online, numerous Indian badminton fans replied in anger. One of them even said that he is not going to purchase any further goods from Yonex while others were shocked that it could post such comments against the country and also P.V. Sindhu.

What's next?

In reply to all the fuss, sunrise.yonex has stated that the account has been hacked and the management is trying hard to resolve the issue by getting to the roots of the cause. The organisation also pleaded everyone not to draw any conclusions right away and cooperate with them as much as possible.

Authors take

Yonex has been a major support to Indian badminton for a long time and is probably the most used brand for the sport in our country. It is unlikely that the Japanese company will take such a bold step. Hacking is the most probable cause, and hopefully, it will solve the problems and resume smooth functioning throughout India.