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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.

Gold Rush

Gold, till recently dismissed as a relic of the past by those who believed in the supremacy of fiat money and equities, has once again become the metal of the moment. Ahead of the festive Diwali season, the prices have breached an eye-watering Rs. 1.3 lakh per 10 grams of 24-karat gold, up from Rs. 78,610 last year. That is a year-on-year rise of 65 percent, enough to make even the most ardent buyers blanch. Yet, jewellers remain surprisingly upbeat. Rising household liquidity, aided by GST simplification, government salary revisions and moderating inflation, has kept spending resilient. Many are recycling old gold, opting for lightweight pieces, or trading down to 18-karat ornaments.


The surge has taken the gold’s total market capitalisation to a staggering $30 trillion. It marks the steepest rally since 2008, telling a story not merely of greed, but of fear.


The trigger this time has come from across the Atlantic. Two American regional lenders disclosed loan irregularities this week, reviving memories of subprime rot and rattling investors already jittery about the US economy’s credit quality. Coupled with a fresh round of US–China trade tensions, the result has been a flight to safety on part of investors.


The metal’s run has been breathtaking. Over the past three years, prices have soared by more than 165 percent, rising from about $1,649 an ounce in 2022 to over $4,380 this week. In just the first ten months of 2025, more than half that gain has been logged. Few assets have offered such a return; fewer still have done so while signalling deep unease about the global order.


Here lies a paradox. The Federal Reserve’s expected rate cuts that were once meant to reassure markets are instead stoking gold’s ascent. Lower rates make non-yielding assets like gold more attractive. There is rife speculation that all is not well with America’s economic engine. When faith in paper weakens, faith in metal hardens.


That faith extends far beyond Wall Street. Central banks led by China, India and Turkey, have been among the biggest buyers of bullion, seeking to hedge against dollar weakness and diversify reserves. Exchange-traded funds have also seen strong inflows as institutional investors reposition for an era of geopolitical fragmentation, fiscal excess and a fraying post-war order.


Still, not all that glitters is stable. The current frenzy resembles the exuberance of past bubbles, when investors mistook refuge for reward. Gold is, by its nature, a hedge against uncertainty. Its price rises when confidence falls. A sustained rally therefore implies enduring pessimism about global growth, trade and governance. That may comfort bullion dealers, but it bodes ill for policymakers.


For the world’s central banks, gold’s rise is both symptom and warning. The more investors seek safety in metal, the more they confirm their loss of faith in money. The question, then, is not how high gold can go, but how low global confidence has fallen.

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