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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.

Test In Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai

BJP’s Navi Mumbai district president Sandeep Naik joined the NCP (SP) in presence of state party Chief Jayant Patil on Tuesday. He will be contesting the Belapur assembly constituency as an NCP (SP) candidate now. His father Ganesh Naik, who is the BJP candidate from Airoli assembly constituency, had already made it clear that Sandeep is free to take his own decisions.


While leaving the party Sandeep blamed the BJP leadership of not keeping promises made to him while he joined the party in 2019. However, according to some of the close associates of the Naik family, the real reason behind the latest move is the Naik family’s desire to keep its hold on the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) intact.


Ganesh Naik had been an undisputed leader of Navi Mumbai for around 40 years now. He had been able to maintain control over the municipal corporation since 1995. His elder son Sanjeev was the first Mayor of the city. Between 2004 and 2014 Naik family held all the key posts of people’s representatives in the city like the two MLAs, an MP and the Mayor. In 2014 Ganesh Naik lost to Manda Mhatre, former NCP MLC who had by then switched to the BJP. Sandeep Naik, who had contested from Airoli had won back then and was the only representative of the Naik family who was holding any post as people’s representative between 2014 and 2019.


Ganesh Naik too eventually joined the BJP along with his supporters in the NMMC and the corporation too came under the BJP. According to Sandeep Naik, the BJP leadership had promised to give two assembly seats and a parliamentary seat in the family but didn’t keep the word.


In 2019, the BJP chose Manda Mhatre for the Belapur assembly constituency and she won with a thumping lead of 43,500 votes against a weak Congress candidate. BJP insiders say that the leading margin won her the party ticket for the constituency this time also.


For the Naik family is important to hold both the assembly seats in the city to be able to keep control over the city municipal corporation, where the elections are likely to happen sometime early next year. That is the reason whey Sandeep Naik had started preparing to contest assembly from Belapur for past some time. Since he didn’t get the BJP ticket from the constituency, he shall now do so from the NCP (SP). If he wins, the family’s hold on the corporation will remain intact.

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