Jwala Gutta's ban is due to her decision to team up with Ashwini Ponnappa say sources

Badminton doubles player Jwala Gutta faces a potential life ban

Sources close to Jwala Gutta have revealed in an interview with dailybhaskar.com that the Badminton Authority of India’s (BAI) actions regarding the badminton player have less to do with her conduct at the Indian Badminton League (IBL), but rather more with her recent decision to reunite with former doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa with whom she won the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as well as the bronze at the 2011 World Championships.

They claim that the 30-year-old doubles specialist is being victimised by the BAI for opting to partner Ashwini again owing to the fact that both Ashwini and Jwala are not from national coach Pulella Gopichand’s badminton academy which most of the other players hail from.

The source also goes on to claim that her outspoken criticism of Gopichand and the BAI i the primary reason for her being subjected to such treatment from the authorities.

“It (doubles partner) is always a player’s choice. They (BAI) are not liking it (Jwala teaming up with Ashwini). Since she is outspoken, they always target her,”the source said.

The source also went on to say that Jwala was just following a team decision at the IBL when she stalled one of the ties, “She followed her franchise’s decision in that match. It’s a team game, it was a collective decision. The referee should not have allowed for replacement in the first place. Anybody would have reacted in the same way. Strategies are formed according to the opposition; it’s unfair to change the team at last moment. Moreover, no written intimation was given about the replacement.”

“If Jwala is wrong, so is the entire franchise (Delhi Smashers). Why not ban the entire team then?” the source continued.

The controversy occurred during match between the Delhi Smashers and Banga Beats where the Bangalore team had brought in Danish player Jan O Jorgensen as a replacement for the injured Yun Hu. Jwala and the Delhi team took offence to the switch and did not want Jorgensen to be a part of the match. It was only when the Beats relented and played Arvind Bhat that the Delhi team relented. The game was thus delayed for about 40 minutes.

The player as well as the franchise were then served a 14-day showcause notice by the BAI to explain their conduct.

But the source believes that the BAI is merely looking for an excuse to end Jwala’s career and is using the IBL issue as a smokescreen.

“They (BAI management) don’t want to send players outside ‘the’ academy to big events. They don’t want others to win medals for India. They know next one or two years are crucial, and with CWG and Olympics coming up, they want only the players from academy to represent India and win medals,”the source said, referring to Gopichand’s academy.

Jwala was supposed to participate in international events in Denmark, France and Germany according to the source at her own expense, but will now miss out due to the BAI’s one month moratorium after the investigation by its three-member panel.

“She got a letter from BAI that said if you want to participate in these events, we’re not going to fund your expenses. So everything, from her travel expenses to accommodation, was to be borne by her,”the source informed.

Ths source also mentioned that the shuttler was happy with the kind of support she was receiving and that she was happy that the real stories were coming out.

“She is really happy for all the support. She is overwhelmed. It’s tough on her, but she’s happy. She believes its happened for good. At least people have come to know the real side of BAI,”the source added.