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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same...

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same narrative unfolded on a cricket field, the reaction would have been dramatically different. In cricket, even defeat often becomes a story of heroism. A hard-fought loss by the Indian team can dominate television debates, fill newspaper columns and trend across social media for days. A player who narrowly misses a milestone is still hailed for his fighting spirit. The nation rallies around its cricketers not only in victory but also in defeat. The narrative quickly shifts from the result to the effort -- the resilience shown, the fight put up, the promise of future triumph. This emotional investment is one of the reasons cricket enjoys unparalleled popularity in India. It has built a culture where players become household names and their performances, good or bad, become part of the national conversation. Badminton Fights Contrast that with what happens in sports like badminton. Reaching the final of the All England Championships is a monumental achievement. The tournament is widely considered badminton’s equivalent of Wimbledon in prestige and tradition. Only the very best players manage to reach its final stages, and doing it twice speaks volumes about Lakshya Sen’s ability and consistency. Yet the reaction in India remained largely subdued. There were congratulatory posts, some headlines acknowledging the effort and brief discussions among badminton enthusiasts. But the level of national engagement never quite matched the magnitude of the achievement. In a cricketing context, reaching such a stage would have triggered days of celebration and analysis. In badminton, it often becomes just another sports update. Long Wait India’s wait for an All England champion continues. The last Indian to win the title was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Before him, Prakash Padukone had scripted history in 1980. These victories remain among the most significant milestones in Indian badminton. And yet, unlike cricketing triumphs that are frequently revisited and celebrated, such achievements rarely stay in the mainstream sporting conversation for long. Lakshya Sen’s journey to the final should ideally have been viewed as a continuation of that legacy, a reminder that India still possesses the talent to challenge the world’s best in badminton. Instead, it risks fading quickly from public memory. Visibility Gap The difference ultimately comes down to visibility and cultural investment. Cricket in India is not merely a sport; it is an ecosystem built over decades through media attention, sponsorship, and mass emotional attachment. Individual sports, on the other hand, often rely on momentary bursts of recognition, usually during Olympic years or when a medal is won. But consistent performers like Lakshya Sen rarely receive the sustained spotlight that their achievements deserve. This disparity can also influence the next generation. Young athletes are naturally drawn to sports where success brings recognition, financial stability and national fame. When one sport monopolises the spotlight, others struggle to build similar appeal. Beyond Result Lakshya Sen may have finished runner-up again, but his performance at the All England Championship is a reminder that India continues to produce world-class athletes in disciplines beyond cricket. The real issue is not that cricket receives immense attention -- it deserves the admiration it gets. The concern is that athletes from other sports often do not receive comparable appreciation for achievements that are equally significant in their own arenas. If India aspires to become a truly global sporting nation, its applause must grow broader. Sporting pride cannot remain confined to one field. Because somewhere on a badminton court, an athlete like Lakshya Sen is fighting just as hard for the country’s colours as any cricketer on a packed stadium pitch. The only difference is how loudly the nation chooses to cheer.

A Slow-Burning Catastrophe

As the Sudanese army gains ground in Khartoum, the conflict threatens to spiral into a regional catastrophe.

The carnage in Sudan grinds on. The latest airstrike, which killed at least 270 people in a market in North Darfur’s Tora, underscores the relentless brutality of a war that has already claimed 150,000 lives and displaced 12 million. While the Sudanese military vehemently denies targeting civilians, it remains difficult to distinguish between combatants and bystanders in a conflict that has turned marketplaces and displacement camps into battlefields. The war, which erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is now a contest of attrition, with neither side showing any intent to end the bloodshed.


The recent recapture of Khartoum’s Republican Palace marks a rare symbolic victory for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), but does little to alter the grim trajectory of the war. The RSF, despite its setbacks, remains deeply entrenched in the capital and holds large swathes of Darfur and other regions. Meanwhile, the conflict’s reverberations are felt beyond Sudan’s borders. With its top general now threatening Chad’s airports and accusing South Sudan of harbouring traitors, Sudan’s descent into chaos risks engulfing its neighbours.


The roots of this conflict trace back to the 2019 ouster of Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s long-ruling autocrat. What initially appeared to be a democratic opening soon devolved into a power struggle between the very men who had orchestrated Bashir’s downfall - Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s army chief, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the RSF. The two generals initially ruled together after a 2021 coup derailed Sudan’s fragile democratic transition. But their uneasy alliance collapsed into open warfare in 2023, as both vied for dominance in a country already teetering on the edge.


The SAF represents Sudan’s traditional military elite, while the RSF, an offshoot of the infamous Janjaweed militias that perpetrated atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s, has built its power on smuggling networks, illicit gold trading, and foreign backers. The RSF’s rapid advances in the early months of the war alarmed not just the army but also Sudan’s neighbours, many of whom fear the paramilitary force’s growing influence.


Sudan’s war is no longer a purely internal affair. The military has accused the United Arab Emirates of secretly arming the RSF, a claim Abu Dhabi denies despite mounting evidence from UN and US intelligence reports. The conflict has also heightened tensions with Chad and South Sudan, both of whom fear a spillover. Chad, which has absorbed tens of thousands of refugees from Sudan, now faces the prospect of its own military installations becoming targets. South Sudan, itself fragile and dependent on Sudanese oil exports, is equally wary of being dragged into the fray.


The humanitarian toll is staggering. Sudan’s economy, already in shambles before the war, has collapsed entirely. Famine looms, with the UN warning that millions face starvation as both warring factions weaponize food supplies. With no functional government, no peace process in sight, and an increasingly dire humanitarian situation, Sudan risks becoming the world’s next failed state.


For the Sudanese military, retaking key government buildings in Khartoum is a psychological boost, but does not alter the war’s fundamental dynamics. The RSF remains a formidable force, deeply embedded in Sudan’s urban and rural areas.


Meanwhile, the international response has been tepid. Western governments, preoccupied with conflicts elsewhere, have done little beyond issuing routine condemnations. The African Union has proven ineffective. The warlords leading both factions remain indifferent to diplomacy, believing military might will ultimately decide Sudan’s fate.


If Sudan’s war continues on its current trajectory, the country risks becoming another Libya or Syria - a broken state where armed factions, foreign mercenaries, and external powers carve up territory for their own gain. With the Nile Basin and the Horn of Africa already mired in instability, Sudan’s collapse could set off a regional conflagration.

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