The ‘lottery system’, which has been introduced by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) at the instance of the Kerala Badminton Association (KBA), has taken the sheen out of badminton event in the 2015 National Games, as top teams like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka will not figure in the team championships in both segments.
Under the previous system, the winner and runner-up of the previous National Games would gain direct entry. But, this time, the “lottery system” will be implemented among the runners-up at all five zonal events.
Gujarat and Delhi qualified in the men’s segment and West Bengal and Goa in the women’s by the lottery system.
“Top ranked shuttlers like K. Srikanth, P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Ajay Jayaram and P. Kashyap will miss the action, and that does not augur well for the promotion of the game,” said a senior administrator.
Sources said that National Chief Coach Pullela Gopichand too was irked by the new system, and there was a possibility of top players withdrawing from the individual events as well as they have a good many premier BWF tournaments coming up after the National Games.
The event will take place from February 9 to 13, 2015.
The men’s field will feature Kerala (host), Maharashtra, UP, Haryana, Assam, Uttrakhand (all zonal winners), Gujarat and Delhi while Kerala (host), Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Assam (all zonal winners), West Bengal, and Goa will make up the women’s field.
