HYDERABAD: Peacocks strut about in the rustic settings, even crossing the dirt road in formation as if they were part of a dance troupe. A little detour from the Outer Ring Road’s Exit 12 at Bongluru Gate on the Nagarjuna Sagar highway leads to the quite modern looking Bhaskar Babu-Li Ning Badminton Academy, set in a two-acre campus, not far behind which is a forest.
A pristine-looking swimming pool and a baby pool beside it welcome the visitor even before he can enter the three-storied metal-clad facility. So are there a 200m jogging track and cross-fit training area adjoining the administration block and dining hall.
Changing rooms for boys and girls, apart from a spa, lead trainees to a gym that perhaps has all the equipment a badminton player needs.
“We have shuttlers from across the country, some from as far as Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand and Himachal Pradesh,” says Ramesh Pillalamarri, Administrative Manager.
“Our website www.bbba.co.in gets queries from the gulf and even the UK,” he adds. Eight air-conditioned rooms on the first floor for girls and similar accommodation for boys on the second can house 70 trainees.
The playing arena has a dozen courts, 10 of them covered with the synthetic mats while two remain uncovered revealing a shiny wooden floor. LED illumination and skylights fitted with exhaust fans brighten the roomy interiors, where children, some as young as six years, learn the basics.
Few could better the mentor they have found in P.U Bhaskar Babu. A Sports Authority of India (SAI) coach for three decades, he has personally trained leading lights of the game such as Saina Nehwal, P. Kashyap and Chetan Anand, to name just three.
Founder and major investor R.D. Raj personally prepares a diet chart every week that is high in fibre, fluids and protein, taking care to meet the diverse tastes of the north and south. “The economical fee structure is aimed at attracting more players from rural areas,” says Raj, a pioneer with leaf plates made from the sal tree.
“Li Ning supports our scheme by providing equipment, shuttles, sponsorship contracts for 10 trainees and coaches, kitting being the core component,” says Bhaskar Babu. Citing China’s example, he advocates sponsor support for early international exposure, from 15 years of age, which will enable players make a mark overseas and improve their rankings substantially.
Everything a shuttler needs is within the compound. A gutting machine occupies centre-stage in a well-stocked equipment store. Next door is a physiotherapy room, a panel displaying a list of highly qualified doctors on call.
There are three training sessions from 6 to 8.30 a.m., 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and from 4 to 8.30 p.m. four days a week, the players given off completely on Sundays. They are exempted from the last session on Wednesdays and Saturdays to enable them catch up with their tutors and academics or go swimming.
Although opened only in August last year, results have begun to show, Koya Sai Charan topping the boys under-15 national rankings for a while. About 20 players are set to take part in the national junior ranking tournaments at Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru shortly.
Setting up a SAI scheme at the academy and starting a city league would be hugely beneficial not just to trainees but to the sport itself, opines the seasoned and widely travelled coach. With over 50 academies in the Twin Cities alone, an inter-academy tournament is on the cards.
“Free flow of new shuttles, especially in multi-bird training, will produce champions,” Bhaskar Babu believes, of a luxury few academies can afford.
