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Ever since the Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced the 20-member squad for the Asian Games, chief coach Pullela Gopichand and the association at large have been at the receiving end of severe accusations of favouritism and nepotism.
On Thursday, Indian shuttler Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy’s grandmother, Sowjanya Jakka Reddy, filed a writ petition, a copy of which is with Sportskeeda, against chief national coach Pullela Gopichand and the BAI in the Delhi High Court. The Union of India, through the Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, and Indian Olympic Association, through its Secretary, have also been named as respondents.
Vaishnavi's grandmother has accused the BAI of not including the talented youngster in the Women’s Badminton Team to represent India in the forthcoming Asian Games 2018 to be held at Jakarta, Indonesia from 18th August 2018 "for totally malafide, motivated and perverse reasons".
The petition states that Vaishnavi was deliberately excluded "at the behest of respondent No.3 (Pullela Gopichand), solely to facilitate the accommodation/ inclusion of his daughter Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, who does not have any World Rankings, not even in top 300 players."
The BAI had organised two All India ranking tournaments in Bengaluru and Hyderabad as selection tournaments for the Asian Games. Nine 'elite shuttlers' were exempted on the basis of their World Rankings and recent performances in the international circuit.
Through the petition, Sowjanya Jakka Reddy has also pointed out that, "There are no criteria to be selected as a ‘player in elite group’, as referred to in the impugned Minutes of the Selection Committee of Asian Games-2018 dated NIL, from amongst the Senior Level players. Moreso, there is no such ‘elite players group’ criteria for the Junior Level players i.e. under 19 years"
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Vinod Kumar Reddy, Vaishnavi's father, said, “My daughter is the third highest ranked Indian in the world. How can the top two be exempted and not No. 3?
“She was injured and so, couldn’t play the selection tournaments. The doctor had advised three weeks of rest. We had informed the association over a mail. And yet, she was not even considered.”
Vaishnavi, 16, is the junior World No. 4 and recently played her first Super 1000 tournament in Indonesia. She was also a part of the weakened Indian team that travelled to Bangkok for the Uber Cup. On the other hand, this will be both Gayatri and Aakarshi’s first major tournament.
Gayatri had finished as a semifinalist in Bengaluru and as a quarter-finalist in Hyderabad. In the petition, it has been alleged that Aakarshi has been included only to avoid a controversy of having Gayatri in the squad.
This comes a few days after 9-time national champion Aparna Balan moved the Kerala High Court against the association and Gopichand. The 31-year-old blatantly accused that Gopichand had excluded her to accommodate his own daughter, Gayatri.
A week back, Prajakta Sawant also took to social media and alleged favouritism after the BAI withdrew her entry from the World Championships.
