00:00 [Music]
00:18 This is a story about a bunch of feathers.
00:21 A bunch of feathers which when they came together like this,
00:24 in the 19th century,
00:26 were smashed over a net back and forth by these quaint looking British ladies and gents in Pune.
00:32 Yes, our old Pune, from where this shuttle flew across the world,
00:36 has turned a full circle and flown back and given flight to millions of Indian dreams.
00:42 This is the story of the stunning flight of badminton in India.
00:47 So, the recreational game, actually called Pula,
00:52 was taken to the UK and of course given a proper name.
00:55 It didn't quite cause a flutter back here until 1980.
00:59 One man from Mysore won the hearts of all of England.
01:03 But hey, let's cut to the chase here.
01:05 170 countries play badminton and only 6 nations have won the badminton world cup,
01:13 that's Thomas Cup, and India is the 6th nation.
01:15 So that is very special for the sport.
01:17 Whatever that has happened to cricket in 1983,
01:20 there were 7-8 nations who were equally good.
01:23 India played to their potential.
01:25 So we could beat the best of nations and win the Thomas Cup.
01:29 From just 2 heroes until 2001, India now has a galaxy of stars,
01:39 and they hail from all parts of the country.
01:41 Right now there are Indians who are champions in their individual sports.
01:46 Say for example, Saina Nehwal I think would be the best example.
01:51 Because of the popularity of the sport, the number of courts have increased,
01:55 the number of children playing the sport have increased,
01:58 but the number of tournaments I would say are the same.
02:00 Just that the number of participants playing the sport and entering into tournaments
02:06 have increased massively.
02:08 Hyderabad, home to Gopichand and Sindhu, is a world-class factory,
02:14 producing top-tier athletes.
02:16 But it's its finishing academies across India
02:19 where hundreds of diamonds are being polished every day.
02:22 I started playing in Panchkula, Taudi Vilal Stadium.
02:27 We have a proper track and 4 courts, gym, everything.
02:33 Even Prakash Padukone sir, he used to tell that
02:48 we used to practice in the marriage hall.
02:50 If the marriage is not there, we used to, we will practice.
02:53 Here you have everything.
02:55 Gym, a physio, a gym trainer, everything we have.
03:00 It takes a village to create an athlete,
03:07 and today these villages are abuzz and proud.
03:11 With collective spirit, administrative support,
03:14 and an incredible supply chain of talent and mentors,
03:18 the Indian shuttle has torn down the Chinese wall in the past decade.
03:22 If you look at it, in 2006,
03:25 things started changing in the country for badminton.
03:28 The first thing, the scoring format of the sport changed.
03:31 Then the other thing was, Commonwealth Games in 2010 was allotted to India.
03:36 And Saina Nehwal at that time was slowly coming up.
03:40 At that time, she started getting some good wins over the top internationals.
03:45 And then Saina started beating the girls.
03:49 So at some point of time, they used to say that it was Saina versus China.
03:53 Such things were said, and it was good for the sport.
03:57 In 2001, 2002, when we used to cover the Nationals,
04:05 and you would see 80% kids coming to the Nationals
04:08 would have bigger bags for the campfire day than the playing day.
04:12 Today, not a single player wastes time after 5 minutes of their match
04:18 and is gone for training, for rest.
04:20 So the focus of badminton has changed. Now it is a career.
04:24 Today, it is a sport in India where people are looking to make a career out of it.
04:27 The shuttle today is fast, fierce, and the best part,
04:34 it's only just begun to take flight.
04:38 [Music]
04:44 (whooshing)
04:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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