An Instagram post from the Satwik-Chirag duo — a former badminton world no. 1 doubles pair — on their bronze medal finish in the Thomas Cup has become a talking point in India’s sporting circles. “Back home now. As usual, no one knows what happened over the past two weeks, and it seems like no one really cares,” the star shuttlers wrote, not holding back about the lack of awareness about non-cricket disciplines.
The angst is understandable as the Thomas Cup is the world team championship for men — where India had its second podium finish in four years after being champions in 2022. ‘’We are not a sporting nation yet,’’ said the strapping Chirag, referring to the lukewarm response all-round about their feat in Horsens, Denmark when they eventually went down 3-0 to France in the semi-final.
‘’Yes, we win a lot of medals, but we don’t celebrate our athletes the way we should. There is still a lot more that needs to be done. The government and sports bodies are already doing their bit but the ecosystem needs to start celebrating sporting achievements,” said the member of the duo who will be defending their Asian Games gold later this year.
Speaking at a selected virtual media interaction hosted by Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Tuesday, both Chirag and senior singles player H.S. Prannoy echoed similar sentiments.
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"I don’t know what else we will have to do to catch people’s imagination. The government has certainly done enough in terms of funding etc but we need to promote the sport on the whole,’’ remarked Prannoy, the 34-year-old star from Hyderabad.
‘’It’s called the Thomas Cup and it’s the world championship but there is no prize money involved. There is prize money for all other BWF Tour events and the governing body should think about it,’’ Prannoy added.
Chirag, however, hastened to add: ‘’The last time we won the Thomas Cup, we did get a reception. I landed in Mumbai and there were plenty of people who came to receive us. We also met the prime minister and had a reception at his house and we were felicitated by the association as well.”
This is not the first time he has spoken about about the stepmotherly approach to other disciplines, though. His comments after the T20 World Cup prize money for the Indian team in 2024 raised a valid point about the gap in how achievements in badminton and other disciplines are celebrated.
Chirag ShettyI feel the way it should have been celebrated (India's Thomas Cup bronze), it didn’t get celebrated as much. The fans who actually follow badminton and understand the sport knew how big the tournament was, but the general public still didn’t really know the magnitude of the result. That sometimes makes me sad“I feel the way it should have been celebrated (India's Thomas Cup bronze), it didn’t get celebrated as much. The fans who actually follow badminton and understand the sport knew how big the tournament was, but the general public still didn’t really know the magnitude of the result. That sometimes makes me sad,” Chirag added.
“When you achieve something like this and there isn’t enough recognition, it becomes very difficult for players to stay convinced and motivated every time. We spend two-and-a-half to three weeks preparing and playing as a team the question comes up — what is the value of doing this?,” Prannoy said. “When there isn’t enough support from fans or recognition from the media, it becomes tough to keep doing this repeatedly. For senior players, convincing younger players to come together and do this for the country again becomes very difficult.”
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