Ball Badminton regains pace

[1]

It, hopefully, is revival time for ball badminton in the State. After an eight-year gap, Kerala hosted a national championship, the 37th South Zone Ball Badminton Championship, as part of the efforts to give the game a new push.

The venue was the public stadium in Thiruvalla, that saw teams from various states at play from March 29 to 31.

Kerala ball badminton association admits the game has seen a decline in the state in recent years, but says it is optimistic of reversing the trend.

Kerala women were the reigning champions for 14 years consecutively but were outshone in the last three years by States such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

“It was a major sport in rural areas. We did well in the nationals too. But the people are not as much interested now as they were before,” says Prof G. Harikumar, general secretary of the association.
A major problem is, the game requires special skill that come with over a year’s training. “To play it professionally, you need extra talent and a player has to dedicate at least a year to the play. This has kept the game away from colleges, as students opt for power games,” says Harikumar.

“Right now, however, we have begun giving training to students from school level, with a view to grooming players for the state team.

Moreover, there are several areas here where the game is still popular and they regularly send teams for various tournaments.

There are also a few academies giving training to players,” he says.
The racquet sport is played with five players in each team. There will be a middle man, two backs and two fronts in each team.

“It’s a thrilling game and usually draws a good number of spectators. The only problem is that training wasn’t enough for players to participate in top-level national meets,” he adds.

Kerala women finished third in the south zone tournament in Thiruvalla, while defending champions, Tamil Nadu’s women and men teams, clinched the titles in their respective categories.