Once a rising powerhouse, India’s badminton struggles to find new stars as depth and consistency vanish
Indian badminton, which not long ago basked in global admiration thanks to the trailblazing feats of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, is now grappling with an unsettling slide in performance. As the icons age and face injury setbacks, the sport is left with a visible vacuum—one that no new generation has yet stepped forward to fill convincingly.
For nearly a decade, Saina and Sindhu were synonymous with India’s arrival as a badminton force. Saina broke barriers as the first Indian woman to reach a world No. 1 ranking and win an Olympic medal. Sindhu soared even higher, clinching silver at Rio 2016 and becoming world champion in 2019. Their successes inspired countless young players, led to a surge in funding, and put India firmly on the global map.
But that golden period is fast becoming a memory. This year, India’s senior squad crashed out early in prestigious tournaments such as the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship, and no singles player managed a significant breakthrough in top-tier Super 500 and Super 750 events. Even in the India Open on home soil, only the men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced past the early rounds.
The core problem is a shallow talent pipeline. While men’s singles players like Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Prannoy have delivered occasional strong performances, they have struggled to string together consistent results against the world’s best. In women’s singles, the challenge is even greater—no player has yet convincingly stepped into Sindhu’s shoes. Young hopefuls like Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap show promise but have yet to make a deep run at elite tournaments.
Coaches and former players point to systemic gaps: a lack of structured planning to transition junior talent into the senior circuit, insufficient investment in coaching and fitness support beyond a handful of academies, and an overreliance on the same small group of stars for medals. Without a broader base of competitive players, India’s badminton success is fragile.
If there is a silver lining, it lies in the potential of emerging juniors. India has several girls ranked in the world junior top 30 and promising doubles combinations waiting for support and exposure. But unless the federation and academies prioritize long-term development, expert coaching, and strategic tournament scheduling, these prospects risk fading before they can mature into champions.
Indian badminton now stands at a crossroads: either it accepts this decline as inevitable, or it uses this wake-up call to invest in a sustainable system that doesn’t depend on the brilliance of just one or two players. The achievements of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu proved that Indian shuttlers can conquer the world. The challenge ahead is ensuring those triumphs were not an exception but the start of some
thing lasting.
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