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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.

Old Foes, New Alliances

Updated: Oct 25, 2024

BJP

The shifting sands in Konkan’s electoral battlefield are seeing a number of former friends turn foes while yesterday’s enemies have become newfangled partners in marriages of political convenience. Nilesh Rane, ex-MP and son of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narayan Rane, announced his decision to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and contest from the Kudal Assembly seat in the upcoming state elections.


The Kudal Assembly segment is currently held by the Rane clan’s long-time rival, Vaibhav Naik, who is from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).


Ex-Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane, once a Shiv Sena strongman, and later Congressman, was the unchallenged king of his fiefdom of Kudal, being its legislator for six terms. However, when in the Congress, he was trounced comprehensively by Vaibhav Naik (in the undivided Shiv Sena) in the 2014 Assembly elections by a margin of more than 10,000 votes in a result that ultimately led to a Sena renascence in the Konkan region.


Now, with the Shiv Sena split vertically, Nilesh’s joining the Eknath Shinde-led Sena will give him an opportunity not just to politically rehabilitate himself but avenge his father’s defeat as well.

In the past, Rane’s fallouts with his former aides-turned-nemesis - Rajan Teli and Ravindra Phatak, and bête noire Deepak Kesarkar, had undercut his hold over the Konkan region.


Today, in a twist owing to political expediency, Kesarkar, who joined CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena after his revolt split Uddhav Thackeray’s undivided Sena, is now aligned with the BJP, placing him and Rane on the same side. Kesarkar, an erstwhile bete noire of Rane, is now banking on the latter’s support to retain his hold on the Sawantwadi Assembly segment, also part of the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency as Rane is the incumbent MP.


In the 2019 Assembly poll, Rane, who had just joined the BJP, had strained every sinew to beat candidates of the undivided Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray in the 14 Assembly segments in three districts of the Konkan. However, his efforts had come a cropper as the undivided Shiv Sena had effortlessly retained its strongholds, winning nine of 14 segments. At the time, Deepak Kesarkar beat independent candidate Rajan Teli, a close Rane aide, by 13,228 votes in Sawantwadi.


Today, in a supreme irony, Kesarkar – Rane’s foe-turned-friend – is likely to face BJP leader Rajan Teli, once Rane’s protégé, who recently joined Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT).


Adding to the byzantine political twists in this region is Kiran Samant, who is from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and has been fielded as the Mahayuti’s candidate for the Rajapur Assembly segment, also part of the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency.


At the time of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP, after much delay, had finally announced Union Minister Rane as the ruling Mahayuti coalition’s candidate for the contentious Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha seat, to the intense chagrin of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which had staked its claim over the seat.


Kiran Samant, brother of Shinde camp Minister Uday Samant, had been eagerly vying for a ticket and was believed to be on the verge of rebellion. However, Kiran had taken a step back and ended up supporting Rane for the Lok Sabha.


He is now banking on Rane’s support for the Assembly election as quid pro quo. The clock is ticking to November 20, and the Konkan has never been more rife with intrigue.

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