Justin Joseph
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Pak shuttlers impressed by facilities in India
Life for a badminton player in Pakistan is tough. That is what Wajid Ali, the top Pakistani shuttler feels.
The 28-year-old from Karachi, the country's leading singles player, feels that one has to entirely depend on himself if he has to pursue a career in badminton in Pakistan.
Speaking to MAIL TODAY, Wajid said in Pakistan the game was very low in terms of popularity.
"In terms of popularity, it is low down. Also, the game does not attract much media coverage. That could be because of the lack of stars," he said.
"In our country, cricket, hockey and squash hog all the limelight. Badminton is way down with the popularity of the game restricted to big cities like Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. The game does not have a mass base in our country." Wajid, who has played at the major Championships, All England and Asian badminton meets, has visited India on several occasions.
"Each time I come here, I am amazed at the infrastructure of the game. Earlier, you (India) had world-class facilities in Bangalore only. Now in the span of three years, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi have badminton facilities which are comparable to the best in the world," Wajid, ranked 112th in the world, said.
The Pakistani shuttler, who had a brief stint at the Tata Padukone Academy in Bangalore in 2002, said there was no such exclusive facility for the game in his country.
"We do not have any badminton-specific academy in Pakistan like the Gopi Chand or the Prakash Padukone Academy. The badminton players in our country have to travel either to South-East Asia or come and practice at the Gopi Chand Academy." The left-handed Wajid, who works as a sales executive back home in Pakistan, feels that India has very good structure.
"I think the key to India's success is the good junior programme it has. It has contributed a great deal to India's success at the international level. They (India) have a very good junior programme in place," he said.
On his part, Rizwan Azam, another young star of the visiting Pakistan team, said that he was impressed with a conducive environment for the game in India.
"The one thing that stuck me here was the badminton- friendly environment which is there in all parts of the stadium. I have yet to come across something like this back home," he said.
Rizwan also mooted the idea of India-Pakistan test series in badminton.
"If we can have test series in cricket and hockey, then there can also be badminton tests between the two countries. Of course, India is much stronger than us, but then the concept of a Indo-Pak badminton Test series has to be carried forward," he said.
Rizwan also felt that the test series should be hosted in each country alternately.
"For insance, if one series of four tests is played in Pakistan, then the next edition should be held in India the following year. This is the only way we can improve our badminton ties," he said.
Pak shuttlers impressed by facilities in India: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.
Life for a badminton player in Pakistan is tough. That is what Wajid Ali, the top Pakistani shuttler feels.
The 28-year-old from Karachi, the country's leading singles player, feels that one has to entirely depend on himself if he has to pursue a career in badminton in Pakistan.
Speaking to MAIL TODAY, Wajid said in Pakistan the game was very low in terms of popularity.
"In terms of popularity, it is low down. Also, the game does not attract much media coverage. That could be because of the lack of stars," he said.
"In our country, cricket, hockey and squash hog all the limelight. Badminton is way down with the popularity of the game restricted to big cities like Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. The game does not have a mass base in our country." Wajid, who has played at the major Championships, All England and Asian badminton meets, has visited India on several occasions.
"Each time I come here, I am amazed at the infrastructure of the game. Earlier, you (India) had world-class facilities in Bangalore only. Now in the span of three years, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi have badminton facilities which are comparable to the best in the world," Wajid, ranked 112th in the world, said.
The Pakistani shuttler, who had a brief stint at the Tata Padukone Academy in Bangalore in 2002, said there was no such exclusive facility for the game in his country.
"We do not have any badminton-specific academy in Pakistan like the Gopi Chand or the Prakash Padukone Academy. The badminton players in our country have to travel either to South-East Asia or come and practice at the Gopi Chand Academy." The left-handed Wajid, who works as a sales executive back home in Pakistan, feels that India has very good structure.
"I think the key to India's success is the good junior programme it has. It has contributed a great deal to India's success at the international level. They (India) have a very good junior programme in place," he said.
On his part, Rizwan Azam, another young star of the visiting Pakistan team, said that he was impressed with a conducive environment for the game in India.
"The one thing that stuck me here was the badminton- friendly environment which is there in all parts of the stadium. I have yet to come across something like this back home," he said.
Rizwan also mooted the idea of India-Pakistan test series in badminton.
"If we can have test series in cricket and hockey, then there can also be badminton tests between the two countries. Of course, India is much stronger than us, but then the concept of a Indo-Pak badminton Test series has to be carried forward," he said.
Rizwan also felt that the test series should be hosted in each country alternately.
"For insance, if one series of four tests is played in Pakistan, then the next edition should be held in India the following year. This is the only way we can improve our badminton ties," he said.
Pak shuttlers impressed by facilities in India: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.
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