Shuttler HS Prannoy has hit out at the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and has questioned the selection criteria for the Arjuna Award. The shuttler has said that the players who have won nothing have been recommended, while the players who have medals to their credit have been snubbed. His remarks come as BAI recommended doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men”s singles player Sameer Verma for the Arjuna Award on Tuesday.
“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.
#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 HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) June 2, 2020
Prannoy had been left out from the list last year as well and the shuttler had slammed the criteria then as well.
“If you ever want your name in the awards list, make sure you have people who will get your name to the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad state of our county but can”t help it. Let go and just play until you can,” Prannoy had tweeted last year.
Prannoy had won the mixed team gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and he also has a men”s singles bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Championships.
On Tuesday, the BAI has also recommended the renowned National Institute of Sports (NIS)-certified coaches, S. Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu for the Dronacharya Award.
Murlidharan has been working relentlessly for the growth and development of the sport in Kerala, besides being an able administrator.
He has coached the likes of Vimal Kumar, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas amongst many other renowned former players.
He has also been a recipient of the Meritorious Service Award given by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in 1996.
For the Dhyanchand Award, BAI has recommended the names of Pradeep Gandhe and Manjusha Kanwar.
Gandhe is a two-time Asian Games bronze medallist while Manjusha is a South Asian Games silver medallist.
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