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What’s the story?
The new badminton season might be off to a smashing start with a blockbuster quarter-final showdown between Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu at the Indonesia Masters, but there will be no live telecast of the match in India.
Indian fans will be deprived of a priceless opportunity of cheering on their favourite shuttle queens on the television on Friday as no broadcaster has got the rights to show the Indonesia Masters, as confirmed to Sportskeeda by Star India Network.
“None of the networks have rights for the Indonesia Masters and so there will be no telecast of the Saina-Sindhu match tomorrow,” was what Star told.
In case you didn’t know
This will be the first time that Saina and Sindhu will be playing each other anywhere outside India. They have crossed swords twice on the BWF circuit, with the two splitting the matches 1-1. Their last encounter in a BWF match was at the India Open in March which Sindhu won in straight games.
But it was Saina, who triumphed in their last meeting of any kind. The former World No. 1 prevailed over her younger compatriot in a thrilling two-game final at the Senior National Championships in November.
The heart of the matter
As things stand, Indians are set to lose out on watching their favourite badminton stars for most of the year. According to reports, no broadcaster in India has so far bid for any of the tournaments after the BWF circuit was restructured and revamped into the BWF World Tour in 2018.
There have been rumours that the price package is way too expensive and that has dissuaded networks from grabbing the rights. However, there is a faint hope that next week’s India Open will be beamed live.
What’s next?
The much-awaited match is expected to begin around 1.15pm IST on Friday.
Author’s take
It’s indeed a heartbreaking news for badminton aficionados. Just when the sport was becoming high-flying in India with fabulous results and relentless coverage, this move will only clip its wings.
Here’s hoping the situation improves and fans are not denied such a golden chance of watching the country’s top shuttlers anymore.
