Indian doubles specialist Jwala Gutta has come down hard at the state of the doubles game in the country, saying she was the concerned about its state once she and her partner Ashwini Ponnaapa left the scene and asked the authorities to alter their attitude.
"After Ashwini and I, there is nobody and that is the plain truth. It's the doubles I'm more worried about," The 32-yer-old said in an interview.
"I've won medals at the highest level but you're still not capitalising on the achievement. The doubles are still being given a step-motherly treatment. You need to change your attitude," she added.
Jwala felt that there was a lack of depth of players in the country, adding there was very little back-up for the likes of herself, Ponnappa, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.
"We still have not done anything to strengthen our team. As a team, we are just Saina, Sindhu, myself and Ashwini. There's nobody else we can bank on. That is because we are not paying attention to our doubles. That's why we're not producing good doubles players.
“Asian Team Championship is coming up but we don't have a second pair. Even we cannot bank on our third singles -- we just have Saina and Sindhu,” the 2011 World Championships bronze medalist said.
For several years, China have proved to be a benchmark for badminton for their ability to churn good, young players who would eventually climb to the top. Gutta felt if India are to compete with their Asian neighbours, then the focus must not just be on singles but on doubles as well and added that the latter was taken seriously everywhere else except India.
“We keep talking about China but if you see...they have at least six players in men's women's doubles and mixed doubles. They give a lot of importance to their doubles players," she said.
"If we want to compete with China, we have to encourage all the events. We can't just bank on singles all the time. Doubles is taken seriously everywhere except India," she added.
We are on the right track: Jwala
When asked about her chances of winning at the Rio Olympics, she felt that herself and Ponnappa are on the right track and the Malaysian doubles coach Tan Kim Her has been of much help for them.
“It's just that we need to keep focusing, play a lot of tournaments and do a lot of training, which we're doing right now. I think Ashwini and I are on the right track. We are working really hard. I've shed like 10 kilos. I'm lighter and fitter now. The Malaysian coach is helping us out. He's exclusively for doubles.
“Nothing easy. I don't think it's easy for the singles players also. If we can win medal at the World Championship, I think Ashwini and I can win at the Olympics also,” she said.
