Indian doubles badminton specialist Ashwini Ponnappa on Tuesday said she received little to no individual financial assistance from the sports ministry in the build up to Paris Olympics and even her request for a coach was turned down ahead of the just-concluded Games. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had come out with a document, detailing the financial support provided to the Paris-bound Indian athletes. It mentions that Ashwini was provided Rs 4,50,000 under TOPS and Rs 1,48,04,080 under Annual calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC), which included the procurement of Game Ready recovery equipment, international competitions and sparring partner in the Tokyo cycle.

“I’m absolutely shocked.. I don’t mind not getting money but telling the nation that I got money is ridiculous. I haven’t received it. Like if you’re talking about national camp, then that 1.5 Crore is spent on all the campers,” Ashwini told PTI.

“I don’t have a specific coach. As for my personalised trainer, I’m paying for him myself. I’m not taking money from anyone. I’ve played on my own until November (2023). I was included as part of TOPS only after we qualified…”

Ashwini, 34, has been one of the top Indian doubles player, having won a gold, a silver and a bronze in the Commonwealth Games 2010, 2014 and 2018 respectively.

She has also competed in the London and Rio Olympics with Jwala Gutta.

Detailing the Rs 1.48 crore spending, a SAI source said: “The Rs 1.48 crore has been spent on her on travel, stay, food, competition fee, DA in all the competitions that she participated in as part of the Indian team in the Paris cycle.

“This money is given to BAI as part of ACTC.”

Ashwini, who had paired with N Sikki Reddy till August, 2022, joined hands with Tanisha Crasto in December that year and started playing in international tournaments from January 2023.

A series of good performances helped them seal their Paris berth, after which the duo were included in the TOPS scheme in May this year.

“The ministry has always supported me. I’ve been part of the team for years and I’m grateful for the support I’ve received,” Ashwini said.

“The last year I haven’t been supported and it’s ok. But you can’t say I’ve been given Rs 1.5 crore, if it’s over four years, fair enough. As I was TOPS when I was partnering Sikki.”

Playing her third Olympics, Ashwini was left in tears after she and her partner Tanisha couldn’t win a single match to make an unceremonious exit from the group stage.

“I haven’t played well, irrespective of the coach not being there, I take responsibility for that. But you can’t say I’m getting this amount when I haven’t even got this amount,” she said. 

Following Indian badminton stars’ dismal campaign at the Paris Olympics, many shuttlers have been criticised for their performance in the quadrennial event, especially considering the support they have received from authorities and the government. Even Prakash Padukone, former All-England winner and Lakshya Sen’s coach, tore into the athletes for their failure to step up and deliver a medal. Reflecting on India’s poor badminton show in the Paris Games, a report in PTI highlighted the sort of money that badminton stars received from the TOPS scheme. However, shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa has called the report ‘a lie’.

A report in PTI stated that HS Prannoy, a bronze-medallist at the 2023 World Championships and Asian Games, received Rs 1.8 crore for training. His performance in the Paris Olympics was hindered by Chikungunya, leading to a loss in the pre-quarterfinals.

The report also said that Ashwini and Tanisha, women’s doubles partners at the Paris Olympics, on the other hand, received Rs 1.5 crore each in support. They were eliminated in the group stage itself.

Reacting to the report, however, Ashwini fumed, saying she didn’t receive any money at all.

“How can an article be written without getting facts right? How can this lie be written? Received 1.5 CR each? From whom? For what ? I haven’t received this money. I was not even part of any organisation or TOPS for funding,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The government also reportedly spent a total of Rs 5.62 crores on men’s doubles duo of Satwik-Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty but they were upset by Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the quarter-finals, prompting their Danish coach Mathias Boe to quit coaching.

The government had also reportedly spent Rs 26.60 lakh and Rs 9.33 lakh sanctioned for Sindhu and Lakshya’s training in Germany and France, respectively.

PV Sindhu, India’s marquee women’s singles Player, is said to have received Rs 3.13 crore in support from the government. She was unable to progress beyond the pre-quarterfinals.

As a whole, the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell reportedly allocated Rs 72.03 crore on the badminton contingent alone, from the total pool of nearly Rs 470 crore spent on India’s Olympic preparations across 16 disciplines.

With PTI Inputs

Prakash Padukone has faced a lot of criticism for his comments on badminton star Lakshya Sen’s loss against Lee Zii Jia in the men’s singles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics 2024. India did not win a single medal in badminton at the Olympics this year with Lakshya coming close but ending fourth in his category. Padukone, who was the coach and mentor of the badminton team at the Paris Olympics, was very disappointed with the results and said that it was “high time the players step up and win as expected”. The comments garnered mixed reactions from both fans and players with Ashwini Ponnappa even coming up with a fiery reply. Olympic medallist Abhinav Bindra, who was present at the Paris Olympics 2024 as a part of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission, said that he does not completely disagree with Padukone but believes that “accountability has to be collective”.

“Accountability has to be collective, and an athlete is very much part of it. So I don’t completely disagree with what Mr. Padukone said. I understand where he’s coming from, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop spending on athletes. It’s just you have to make sure how that money is spent. Yes, you cannot always wrap your athletes in cotton wool,” Bindra said in an interview with Indian Express.

Earlier, Padukone also said that India must focus on giving mind training to its athletes so that they can learn to counter pressure situations. He suggested that there must be a system in place like it is in China, where they do not depend on one player and succeed in churning out players.

“We cannot remain satisfied just having one player. We need to focus on the next line, maybe even the third line. Like they do in cricket. You have the main team, then the ‘A’ team, then the under-19 team, under-17 team. So we need to focus. There is a lot of talent, there is absolutely no doubt but a combined effort is required,” he told reporters.

The former All England champion said India must focus on giving mind training to its athletes, so that they can learn to counter pressure situations.

He also suggested that there must be a system in place, like it is in China, where they do not depend on one player and succeed in churning out players.

“We cannot remain satisfied just having one player. We need to focus on the next line, maybe even the third line. Like they do in cricket. You have the main team, then the ‘A’ team, then the under-19 team, under-17 team. So we need to focus. There is a lot of talent, there is absolutely no doubt but a combined effort is required,” he told reporters.

“And a little bit of effort from the players also. A little more responsibility, a little more accountability. Not just ask for whatever you ask for. Once you are given that, you also have to be accountable. I think the players have to learn to take responsibility.”

In a viral rant, Prakash Padukone, the coach of the Indian badminton contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024, stated that it was “high time the players step up and win”. Padukone’s remarks came after Lakshya Sen lost the men’s bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, which ended India’s hopes of clinching a badminton medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. Lakshya’s defeat came after the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, one of the favourites to win a medal, also crashed out in the quarterfinals.

Padukone stated that players should also take some responsibility. “All the support and finances needed to perform at the top level were given to the Indian players. It’s not like earlier times when our players lacked facilities and funds. So, it’s high time our players step up and win as expected,” Padukone told reporters.

Veteran shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa had issued a strong response to Padukone, saying that he shouldn’t have thrown the players under the bus.

“Disappointing to see this. If a player wins, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to take credit, and if they lose, it’s just the player’s fault?!” Ponnappa wrote in an Instagram story.

Was Prakash Padukone’s Outrage Justified?

Padukone’s rant had the internet divided. Some suggested that the former Indian shuttler did the right thing, saying that the players should indeed take the responsibility.

Meanwhile, others claimed that throwing players under the bus wasn’t the smartest thing he ever did.

However, criticising Padukone for his remarks isn’t really justified either, especially considering that whatever he said was somewhat true.

Satwiksairag and Chirag were a game up against Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Woo Yik in the men’s double quarterfinals.

However, the former world no. 1 pair squandered the advantage to make a shock exit from the men’s doubles draw.

Similarly, Lakshya Sen was in a commanding position in both, the semi-final against eventual champion Viktor Axelsen as well as the bronze medal clash against Lee.

He narrowly lost the first game to Axelsen, and led 7-0 at one point in the second game. However, some poor decision-making cost him the match.

He also won the game of the bronze medal match, before throwing the tie away in a similar fashion.

Looking at the above arguments, it is fair to say that the shuttler should indeed “pull up their socks”. 

File photo of Lakshya Sen© AFP