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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.

Warring MVA allies take their fight to Pawar

With the Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT sparring over around 15 seats with threats of even going independent, Sharad Pawar has stepped in to keep the MVA intact

Pawar

Mumbai: Temperatures in Maharashtra are soaring and its not just the mercury that spiraling upwards. Frenetic discussions and arguments among constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are raising the heat as the seat sharing arrangement is yet inconclusive. Sharad Pawar, reckoned as the architect of the MVA, has been roped in to quell the controversy with leaders of the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena making urgent visits to the senior leader’s office. With no consensus in sight, Aditya Thackeray met Pawar in an attempt to seek his mediation in breaking the impasse.


The flashpoint, it is said, is over the seats in Vidarbha and Mumbai where neither the Shiv Sena-UBT nor the Congress currently have much of a presence. But traditionally, the area has elected Congress candidates which is the reason the party is refusing to concede those constituencies to the Sena.


Sources say that the state unit of the Congress has urged its party bosses not to give in to the Shiv Sena-UBT’s “unreasonable demands”. The deadlock is reportedly over 15 seats mostly in Vidarbha where both parties want to increase their presence.


The two parties have been putting up a strong stance with neither willing to blink first. If Sanjay Raut irked Congress leader Nana Patole by commenting that the Maharashtra Congress cannot take a decision, Congress leaders sent signals that they wouldn’t hesitate to walk out of the alliance if Uddhav Thackeray doesn’t relent.


While Pawar is working the phone lines with the Congress top brass in Delhi, Vijay Wadettiwar announced that while the impasse continues on “six to seven seats in Vidarbha”, the MVA is intact seat sharing arrangement might be finalised by Tuesday evening. Vidarbha has traditionally been a Congress stronghold and while it may not have a widespread presence there at present, the party is challenging the SS-UBT’s insistence on fielding candidates there.


It is said that prominent constituencies such as Ramtek, Warora and Nagpur South. Similarly, there are a few seats in Mumbai where the Congress feels it stands a better chance than the Shiv Sena-UBT. The Shiv Sena-UBT may give up its claim on certain key seats in Vidarbha which have been held by the Congress for years until a BJP wave swept across this eastern part of Maharashtra that has, for long, experienced neglect and farm distress.


Another flashpoint is believed to be the Bandra East constituency which was won by the Congress’s Zeeshan Siddiqui last time. While Siddiqui has switched over Ajit Pawar’s party, the Congress wants to stake claim to this seat which has a sizeable Muslim population. However, Thackeray’s nephew Varun Sardesai has started increasing his presence in the area with the Sena-UBT demanding that constituency.

Pawar’s meetings with leaders from both parties indicate that the NCP-SP supremo is the one who can play the mediator between the warring factions considering he is believed to be the one who had stitched together the alliance between unlikely partners with contrasting political ideologies. Party sources say that Pawar has spoken to the top bosses of both, the Shiv Sena-UBT and the Congress, underlining the need for the MVA to stay intact.

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