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HS Prannoy fumes as BAI ignores him for Arjuna again
On Tuesday, the BAI recommend doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men’s singles player Sameer Verma for the Arjuna Award.
HS Prannoy is an outspoken player and didn’t mince words as he expressed disappointment after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) didn’t nominate him for this year’s Arjuna awards. BAI has recommended world No.10 men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and singles player Sameer Verma for the award.
“#arjunaawards Same old story. Guy who has Medals in Cwg and Asian Championships not even recommended by Association. And guy who was not there on any of these major events recommended #waah #thiscountryisajoke,” Prannoy tweeted on Wednesday.
The player had a fabulous 2017-18, rising to world No. 10. In 2017, he won the US Open and reached the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier with sensational wins over Olympic champion Chen Long and Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei. In 2018, he became only the third Indian to win a men’s singles medal (bronze) at the Asian championships. It took him to a career high ranking of world No. 8.
Sameer Verma also had an impressive run in 2018, winning the Swiss Open and the Syed Modi GP and reaching the semi-finals of the World Tour Finals.
“When it comes to an award like this there are criteria spelt out. I have half of the things in my bag and am still not eligible to be at least recommended,” Prannoy said.
He received support from many shuttlers and also athletes from other disciplines. Badminton players Parupalli Kashyap, Saina Nehwal, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Anand Pawar as well as squash star Joshna Chinappa waded into the row.
“Never actually understood the system of applying for an award. I hope this changes. Be strong bro,” tweeted Kashyap. Olympic bronze medallist Saina said: “it takes years of hard work to be the best in sports.”
Doubles specialist Chopra, who along with Prannoy, was part of the Indian team that won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, said: “It is very easy to be a sports enthusiast or a fan and criticize from outside about why we are getting upset about these things... we know what it takes to go out and perform at that level and what hardships all of us go through...”
Prannoy said: “I tweeted to show that these are the things which happen in our country. People take you for granted. I wanted to show a protest saying that there should be some change in the system. As a sportsperson I am obliged to do this. I do not want anybody else to say the same things after five years.”
Last year, the 27-year-old from Kerala lost the race to B Sai Praneeth, who had won bronze at the world championships.
Athletes can self-nominate, deadline extended by sports ministry
Later in the day, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said it has been decided that nominations for the Arjuna Award 2020 can be filed either by self application or through prescribed authority, keeping in mind the difficulty being faced by several athletes in getting recommendations for their nominations, due to the nationwide lockdown.
“The country is faced with an unusual situation and the need of the hour is to tweak the nomination rules of the National Sports Awards to ensure that athletes are not disadvantaged in any way. The nationwide lockdown has made it very difficult for most of them to reach out and seek recommendations for nomination from competent authorities/persons. Therefore it has been decided that for this year, athletes can self-nominate themselves, even if they are unable to get a recommendation. Their applications will be considered even without the prescribed recommendations,” Rijiju said in a statement.
To ensure that athletes have enough time to submit their applications to the Sports Ministry in view of the changed rule, the deadline for submission of applications has also been extended from June 3, 2020 to June 22, 2020.
“In keeping with the Government’s guidelines to minimise the use of paper during the times of Covid 19, we have also decided that this year all nominations will be filed digitally, through email. There is no need to submit a hardcopy of the application either. I am sure the extension of deadline will ensure that more athletes can participate in the nomination process. The government is committed to creating a convenient and conducive atmosphere for athletes at all times,” the Sports Minister said.
