Indian athletes fight multiple battles to win medals, says shuttler Jwala Gutta

Jwala Gutta in action
Jwala Gutta in action

Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta has made headlines again as she took to Twitter to slam the Indian system after a sub-par performance by team India at the Tokyo Olympics thus far. She shared a post that read:

"Indian athletes don't just have to fight their opponents to win at the Olympics. They've to fight the system, politics, finances, and sometimes their family too. Every medal whether gold or bronze makes it all that special."

Earlier this week, Jwala Gutta was in the news after being on the receiving end of racial slurs in reply to an Instagram story she posted about Indian fencer Bhavani Devi.

Read: "Play for China": Jwala Gutta receives racist replies while celebrating Bhavani Devi's victory

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We are nowhere near China or anyone: Jwala Gutta

Jwala Gutta had earlier blamed the Indian system for the lack of improvement in badminton over the years. She said:

"In each tournament, the Japanese field four to five pairs. Even in singles. We have Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth, Sai and nothing beyond them. What has been happening for the past ten years? We are nowhere near China or anyone."

Comparing her years representing India to the present scenario, she added:

"When I played both the events (Olympics), I was in the top 10. After me, things should be better, isn’t it? Technology, food, exposure. Everything is better. I used to play four tournaments a year. Now they play 20. And we have only one pair!"

PV Sindhu won't have it easy in Tokyo 2020, feels Gutta

In a recent interview, Gutta revealed that while she is hopeful PV Sindhu will win a medal at Tokyo 2020, she doesn't expect it to be easy for India's badminton star. She feels that inadequate match practice and the favorite tag will add pressure on the defending world champion.

"I hope that she gets a medal. There is definitely going to be more pressure than last time on Sindhu," said Jwala Gutta.

She added:

"In Rio, the circumstances were completely different for Sindhu. Now, the situation has completely changed, the focus is more on her and it depends how she takes this pressure. Everybody knows her game, everybody has watched her."

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Edited by SANJAY K K