3 days ago
It's time India scales up production to tide over shuttlecock scarcity arising from change in Chinese food preferences
Trust the French to notice that char siu (barbecued pork) has taken over the land of the Peking duck, on the Chinese dinner table. It's not that their own confit base protein was suddenly affected, to kick off se plaindre (the complaining). The unrelated news arrived through badminton.
The last three months have witnessed a steep rise in prices of shuttlecocks, and academies all over India are having to factor in this escalation in their running costs, grin and bear even though shelling out the extra cash can't ensure that stocks will arrive. The reason cited is shortage of raw materials, arising from fewer ducks being harvested.
The shortage – either naturally resulting from a diet switch or artificially contrived, as several coaches guess – means that though India's top players will continue to be catered to by the big corporations, Yonex and Li Ling, the vast majority of upcoming shuttlers are expected to feel the pinch in the coming months.
They face anxiety not just over playing the game, but also over when the next stocks will arrive, and uncertainty if training sessions can go on without a supply glitch.
ALSO READ | Shuttlecock prices spiral and stocks drop in India as China's tastes shift from fowl to pork
While national coach Pullela Gopichand spoke of the dependency on goose feathers needing a long-term solution, coach Vimal Kumar recalled an intrepid project from 40 years ago when India had attempted to get a headstart in shuttle manufacturing, but got priced out by imports that were more cost-effective and also better in quality as the years went on.
In 1994, Kannur's plywood businessman Mayen Mohamed, an engineer by vocation, had set out to expand into manufacturing shuttles. Kerala had a bit of a history of rearing ducks for meat, and he set up a plant to make high-quality shuttles. In this endeavor, he was joined by the legendary Prakash Padukone and Vikram Singh, another well-known shuttler. Gopichand's All England title was still seven years away, and Indian bureaucracy dawdled as the sport developed at a glacial pace. But the entrepreneurial spirit was buzzing.
The shuttles produced under the brand name 'PraVik' on a small scale were high in quality, but it was never going to match Chinese large-scale manufacturing units. A box of 10 shuttles was prized, but the feather market globally would get flooded by cheaper, inferior quality shuttles, though the technology from giants Yonex and subsequently Li Ning and Victor kept improving, driving Indian brands to the periphery.
The plant did not lack innovation, but when markets opened in India, survival was near impossible. The scaling up didn't quite happen, though it remained an experiment that had briefly worked. The kuttanad tharavu mappas (duck curry) remains popular, but this side chick-goose business hasn't quite taken off.
Even today, shuttles which get labels stuck on by domestic brands like Skylark and Albatross get made – not in Kerala, but in Bengal. In the Uluberia belt of the state where hasher mangsho (duck meat) remains a delicacy, and hence ducks are raised, smallish industrial units spit out shuttles of varying quality.
There's no consistency in these handmade shuttles, and one can't ensure that they will travel around at a uniform speed. They are either too fast, wobble or wither quickly.
'India should seriously look at setting up shuttle-making factories around Kerala and Bengal. The quality of feathers is key, but with what's coming in terms of shortages and price rise, I'm not sure why we cannot,' says Vimal Kumar, who says most national federations camp in Hong Kong and Canton and buy the best ones that Yonex or Li Ning offer. The feather shortages however, have hit all makers big and small with even Lingmei, a smaller brand, facing supply delays.
Shuttles are broadly either ACPTR (used by academies) or higher end AS-2, used by players on the competitive circuit. The absolute elite play with AS-30, 40, 50. Duck feathers are cheaper than geese but are more prominent because the stem is stronger.
The cork of the shuttles, which weighs 4.5 to 5 grams, comes from Portugal and the glue from Burma. One Bengaluru coach mentions that shuttles in recent months have 'felt artificial', though he's unable to put a finger on what could have changed. Dealerships are also grappling with a supply lag, originating from Bangladesh to China. Apparently, for a certain cost segment of feather shuttles, ducks from Bangladesh are sourced, though the import of birds is largely for meat.
The alternatives
The Badminton World Federation has been experimenting with clones and alternative materials for a long time, but the sport, though not as expensive as tennis, remains mighty picky about feathers. Plastic shuttles are good enough to smash and drive, but shuttlers can pen ballads and reams of poetry for the delicate feel of the 'tumble at the net'. It's how the feather shuttle slows in flight that makes it special, while a plastic one will travel like an ugly bullet.
Though it seems absolutely ridiculous that an entire sport could be at the mercy of whether the Chinese fancy pork or duck for dinner, that is where the sport is at the moment.
While plenty of feeder academies survive on nylon shuttles and hybrids, the feather shuttle is a thing of beauty. The air drag, flight and tumble is just not the same. 'Synthetics – they are crap,' says a Chennai coach, struggling big time with the price rise.
Maybe, the Kerala and Bengal units need to get more ambitious, and look at this crisis as an opportunity. Indians are not likely to give up on badminton just because the bird costs got prohibitive. The country is too deep now to take a step back.
