top of page

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.

Mumbai University goofs again: Old syllabus question paper given to LLB students



In yet another embarrassing mistake, the University of Mumbai (MU) on Tuesday distributed an outdated question paper for the fifth-semester LLB ATKT (Allowed To Keep Terms) examination. The paper, based on the old syllabus, caused confusion and anxiety among students, who had to wait nearly 30 minutes before the correct one was provided.


The ATKT system lets students move on to the next academic year even if they fail in some subjects, as long as they pass those failed subjects within a set timeframe.


A final-year LLB student who appeared for the Labour Law & Industrial Relations II exam shared their frustration with The Free Press Journal:“


"Getting a question paper from a syllabus that was scrapped over three years ago was heartbreaking. It completely threw us off. Even when the new paper was handed out, our confidence was already shaken. We couldn’t focus properly because we had prepared for the new syllabus.”


While Yuva Sena leaders alleged that around 60 colleges received the wrong paper, the university said the error affected 30 colleges and roughly 2,000 students.


In a statement, the university clarified: “The question paper was dispatched from the handwritten manuscripts section at 9:30 AM. Soon after, the college informed us that the paper was based on the old syllabus. On checking, it turned out that the paper setter had indeed submitted a version based on the outdated syllabus. The link to the paper was immediately deactivated and a new one was sent out. Students were given an extra 30 minutes, and all colleges were notified via phone.”


Yuva Sena senate members, who have repeatedly criticized the university’s examination department and the Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE)—formerly the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL)—again demanded accountability.


“For the past one and a half years, we’ve been asking for a joint meeting to discuss the ongoing mismanagement in MU’s exam department and CDOE. But the administration keeps ignoring us. Even today, during the third-year law exam, fifth-semester students received a paper from the old syllabus. It took 30 minutes to fix this after students raised concerns. This is just the latest in a long list of blunders,” said a Yuva Sena representative.


They also questioned whether the Controller of Examinations and the exam department director would finally take moral responsibility and step down.

This incident follows another recent mistake by MU—just a month ago, it issued degree certificates to the 2023-24 graduating batch with “University of Mumabai” printed under the emblem.

Comments

bottom of page