India’s top doubles badminton player Jwala Gutta responded sharply to star shuttler Saina Nehwal’s comments on Indonesian great Taufik Hidayat over the base price row in the ongoing Indian Badminton League
Saina, on Wednesday, had said that Hidayat should accept that he was a retired player now and could not get a high price at the IBL auction.
“Taufik Hidayat is one of the greatest players....And I don’t think u can dismiss his views just because he has “retired” from the game!!!!,” wrote Jwala, who represents Delhi Smashers in IBL, on twitter.
Hidayat, Saina’s teammate in the Hyderabad Hotshots franchise, had complained of unfair treatment to foreign players by the league organisers. The Indonesian was bought at his base price $15,000.
“I don’t know how anyone can talk about him in such manner......Without giving him and his stature any respect...It’s absolutely sad!!!!,” Jwala’s subsequent post said.
With the two Hyderabad players in any case not the best of frirends, Jwala’s reaction — as indeed of others in the fraternity — is bound to create further animosity.
“No matter how big u have become in sport I think one should try and ustand what ur fellow players views r And work on it!!!,” she tweeted.
“Nobody can take away his achievements....Just because he’s RETIRED!!!! He is and will always be one of the greatest badminton player!!!!
Others in the fraternity too were surprised at the harsh tenor of Saina’s reaction.
Former international Uday Pawar was quoted by wire agencies as saying, “Taufik Hidayat is a great player and has been a world and Olympic champion to boot. His views need to be respected, even if you don’t agree to them.”
The Indonesian has not been alone in expressing unhappiness at the poor prices paid for overseas players in the league when he said, “I felt bad when for the first time I saw on TV how much a player was bought for. I felt the IBL didn’t treat the foreign players in the right manner.
“The price slab that was set was nonsense. Most of the foreign players were sold for their base price while the Indian players were bought for much higher prices,” Hidayat had said in Mumbai on Sunday.