The number of homegrown coaches might have been on the rise but their exit rate eyeing better-paying opportunities too is quite high, and the Badminton Association of India (BAI) is now preparing a roadmap in association with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to stop the exodus. The crux of that joint proposal is a hike in remuneration for the coaches. Over the past three years, top names such as Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt have transitioned into full-time coaching, training the cream of men’s singles players such as HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, and Priyanshu Rajawat.
Under the guidance of chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, they are also working with young talents like Tharun Mannepalli, Anmol Kharb, Anuradha Upadhyaya, and Rakshitha Ramraj.
The former men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, who represented India at Asian Games and Olympics, have shifted focus to coaching young doubles players.
The duo was seen along with foreign coach Tan Kim Her during the doubles matches at the India Open.
But on the flip side, many renowned coaches have exited the Indian setup after years of hard work because of lack of financial rewards. Mohammed Siyadatullah Siddiqui, who mentored stars like Saina Nehwal and Srikanth, moved to the Oregon Badminton Academy in the U.S. last year.
B Sai Praneeth, a World Championships bronze medalist and Tokyo Olympian, retired from international badminton to take up a coaching role at a U.S. club in March 2024.
Arun Vishnu, who developed stars like Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly, is the latest to leave as he returned to Nagpur to take care of his aging father-in-law.
“I think we need to improve the pay for Indian coaches, or they won’t stick around for long,” Arun told PTI.
“It is fine if we are hiring foreign coaches for 8,000-10,000 USD, but the problem is the Indian coaches are not paid even one-fourth, maybe. So that’s the issue.” The BAI Secretary Sanjay Mishra acknowledged the issue, and said plans have been chalked out to address it.
“The salary of support staff, including physiotherapists and trainers, has been increased by 50-75% on their existing slab and they’ve been receiving the revised salary for the last four months. Now, BAI plans to propose increasing the salaries of the coaches in the national camp,” he said.
Arun said while coaches in the U.S. earn between USD 8,000-10,000 a month, Indian coaches employed by PSUs receive about Rs 50,000 a month for their services to badminton, and that too has started about a year and a half ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“None of the Indian coaches will be ready to help the national team. Why would they? Players want to give back to the sport; there is a lot of pride in that. But if they go to the U.S. or some other country, they are definitely going to get paid a good salary, or if you open an academy, you’ll have better prospects,” he said.
Mishra said: “Currently, the coaches receive an allowance, but according to a new proposal that we are working on, eight coaches from the national camp will be placed under the foreign coaches brought in at various centers, with a substantial salary increase. This will also include the former players and we will be looking to integrate them in the camp.” The BAI had also conducted the first-ever development programme for coaches across the country in March last year to bring uniformity to grassroots coaching.
But the question still remains as to why the current coaches, who have played at the highest level and are training budding talents in their respective academies, are not integrated into the national setup.
India has a pool of experienced former players like Anup Sridhar, Arvind Bhat, Chetan Anand, and Jwala Gutta, but none are part of the coaching system, with most setting up their own academies.
Sridhar, who briefly coached Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu, is set to take over as men’s singles head coach of the Singapore Badminton Association.
“We have many experienced players who probably don’t need further guidance to coach elite players. Take for example Anup, he is joining Singapore, there is (Hans-Kristian Solberg) Vittinghus taking over as men’s singles coach in Denmark,” said Kashyap.
“A coach’s job is not just teaching technique but charting the whole calendar for players, guiding them to manage injuries etc and who better than someone who has been there and done that. There are very few names who have made it to the top of the world rankings from India. It’s about time we trust our own.
“If our retired players were given proper designation, compensation, and opportunities, it would have brought change to Indian badminton. How long will we keep hiring foreign coaches?” BAI recently hired Malaysia’s Tan Kim Her as doubles coach for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Indonesia’s Irwansyah Adi Pratama to focus on women’s singles players, especially on Sindhu.
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