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Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- Indian Express
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.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Shuttlecock prices spiral and stocks drop in India as China's tastes shift from fowl to pork
A badminton coach running a mid-sized academy in Bengaluru has just booked a consignment of reasonably high quality feather shuttlecocks, the AS-2, at `2,700 per 12-piece tube. By the end of the year, he expects prices for the premier shuttles of the top brand to hit Rs 3,000, though 2024 had ended with the same shuttles costing Rs 1,200. Word trickling out from China, and reported by the French media, attributes this price rise to a change in the Chinese palate — they are increasingly preferring pork to the age-old staple, duck meat. This alteration, it is said, means fewer ducks are being raised, resulting in a shortage of feathers to make badminton shuttles. India national coach Pullela Gopichand says the issue is broader than just the immediate price rise, even existential. 'The dependency on goose feathers, which we have, is a problem we need to address as a sport. The growth of the sport across three populous nations, India, China and Indonesia, has ensured that there is demand for raw material of goose feathers, which has gone up a lot. We need to find alternatives for it,' he said. While researchers have long been looking for alternatives, the aerodynamics of feather shuttles make them unique and problematic at the same time. 'We were hoping that the (feather) cloning mechanism could help or other material could help, but definitely it's an issue that needs to be addressed by the federation or other badminton lovers,' said Gopichand. Duck feathers are used to make relatively cheaper shuttles. Geese feathers are reserved for the elite ones because of their stronger stem, durability and lack of wobble. China's cost-efficient factories harvest these feathers after the meat is consumed. But birds only reared for meat are unlikely to be reared exclusively for feathers. The prices of imported shuttlecocks have steadily escalated over the last 16 months. The last stocks in Bengaluru came in for Rs 2,250, but a breach of the Rs 3,000-mark seems imminent. The last two-three months have been particularly brutal on academies across the country. 'It's been substantial in the last two-three months. It kept rising 10, 20 percent, and is now 50 per cent,' says Aravind Samiappan, coach at the Chennai Fireball academy where Sankar Muthusamy Subramaniam trains. The shuttle costs, he says, were equal to the salaries of all coaches last month. 'These are middle-level shuttles, and we were buying for about Rs 1,200, but it sharply went up to Rs 1,700, and for no reason. On top of that, they keep changing prices. I told them, just quote me an amount, I was ready to pay more. But even stocks are scarce,' he says, lamenting the suddenly rising running costs and uncertainty. French newspaper L'Equipe recently reported on how a growing preference for pork (and red meat) in China, was leading to fewer ducks and geese being farmed in poultries. Thailand, Malaysia are other duck-consuming nations, but Chinese cost-efficiency and availability of ducks led to a near-monopoly of production. Almost 90 percent of the factories of the top companies, Yonex and Li Ning, are based in China. 'I am not entirely convinced about the reason that all Chinese have suddenly stopped eating ducks, quite a delicious staple there,' laughs a Bengaluru coach. 'But let's just say, you can't fault the Chinese for hoarding the shuttle stocks for their own centres first, if the raw material is indeed in shortage.' Upfront immediate payments by the Chinese also mean they are prioritised by manufacturers, rather than delayed invoices from exports. At the Ajit Wijettilek School of Badminton in Bengaluru, the rising shuttle prices are threatening to increase academy costs exponentially, and the coach calls the situation a 'mighty headache'. While the numbers of youngsters picking the sport is through the roof (routinely above 1,000 entries for junior meets), the shuttle costs are the latest curveball thrown the sport's way. A recent under-17 meet had 1,650 entries, while junior nationals routinely attract a number in the range of 4,000. The mid-sized academy, which trains 32 shuttlers, needs four tubes at a go, at a minimum, and though they have been sourcing it from Lingmei, one of the third-rung Chinese shuttle makers, they have been hit equally hard as the academies sourcing Yonex or Li Ning products. 'We are all gone if this continues,' rues Prashanth, who runs a dealership in Karnataka. 'Prices have increased by Rs 500, 600 in one go, and extra monthly costs are around Rs 50,000. In the last year and half, the price has increased ninefold. Even if we want, there's no stock.' AS-2s are the most basic among high-end shuttles. The best feathers, used at international meets, are tagged AS-30, 40 and 50. ACPTR shuttles are used in academies. 'It is going to affect badminton big time. Even the middle class won't be able to afford it,' says Mumbai coach Uday Pawar, where Chirag Shetty started. 'It will be impossible for organisers to hold junior tournaments that go on for 9 days, with 5 days of qualifying.' A 12 per cent GST gets imposed on all imported shuttles, which is substantial given the increased cost price. Pawar reckons there's little to be achieved by figuring out just what is going on in China. 'The most we can do is request our own government to reduce import duties and subsidize shuttles for us. The raw material shortage is a problem for the whole world, but India can at best not make it impossible for Indians to play by persisting with duties,' he says. 'Before the sport goes out of everyone's reach…'
Time of India
3 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Indian shuttlers haven't lived up to their potential: Gopichand
Nagpur: Legendary badminton coach Pullela Gopichand minced no words while assessing the current state of Indian badminton, stating that most players have not yet fulfilled their true potential. Speaking at a talk organised under the Orange City Literature Festival by Raisoni Foundation, Gopichand called out a culture of complacency and over-celebration that he believes is hurting long-term performance. Gopi Chand, who is a Dronacharya awardee, said, "You might be World No.1, you might stay there for years, but if you don't live up to your full potential, you've still failed." The coach also emphasised that real success lies in sustained excellence — not just a few wins. "Look at Lee Chong Wei — 11 consecutive Malaysian Open titles. That's dominance. That's what I call good performance. We must chase performance, not just medals," he said, adding that Indian shuttlers often 'over-celebrate average wins' and lose consistency as a result. The former shuttler, who has the prestigious All England Open title under his belt, added that the system often focuses only on the top five players, while ignoring the next 40 who also need mentoring. "Every coach wants to train the top five, who seem likely to win championships. But the rest are often left behind. That's not how it should work," he said. Gopichand also believes the country has only scratched the surface of its true badminton capability. "In 1994, we didn't even qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Now we've won the Thomas Cup. But there's so much more we can do. If India isn't on top, we must blame ourselves and this impotent system." He stressed that while every athlete wants to win, sport is inherently brutal. "Only one can be No.1. That doesn't make the others losers. The expectations we place on athletes are unrealistic. We must begin celebrating the effort, not just the outcome." Reflecting on his coaching philosophy, Gopichand said he tailors his approach to the needs of his students. "What works for them is what I'll follow. Many coaches never switch out of player mode — but coaching is about adapting." He also reminded young athletes not to be too harsh on themselves. "Don't cry after every loss. Learn from it. It's a sport. The nature of competition is tough." Recalling the early struggles, he said, "My coach Hamid Hussain never taught me technique — he just taught me to love the sport. That's what mattered. We weren't poor, but we didn't have a rupee to spare. Still, I never saw it as a sacrifice — it was always love for the game." Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and s ilver prices in your area.
Indian Express
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Saina Nehwal's post with Parupalli Kashyap 19 days after announcing separation: ‘Here we are, trying again'
A fortnight after announcing she and Kashyap Parupalli had decided to part ways, Indian badminton superstar Saina Nehwal has said on Saturday that they are 'trying again' in an Instagram post. 'Sometimes distance teaches you the value of presence. Here we are—trying again,' read Saina's post on her social media account. Saina and Kashyap, who trained together in their early days at the Pullela Gopichand badminton academy, got married in December 2014. While she is officially yet to retire from the sport, 38-year-old Kashyap has transitioned into coaching at the academy where he works with the singles players along with the likes of Guru Sai Dutt. At the peak of his career, Kashyap had broken into the world top 10 and most memorably clinched the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold. Saina, of course, is one of India's greatest athletes, having broken through on the international scene at a time when China was the dominant force. She became a global icon with her Olympic bronze and ascent to the world No. 1 in BWF rankings. A post shared by SAINA NEHWAL (@nehwalsaina) In an earlier statement, posted on July 14 as an Instagram story, Saina had written: 'Life takes us in different directions sometimes. After much thought and consideration, Kashyap Parupalli and I have decided to part ways. We're choosing peace, growth, and healing – for ourselves and each other,' Saina wrote in her statement. 'I'm grateful for the memories and wish nothing but the best moving forward. Thank you for understanding and respecting our privacy during this time,' she had added. Saina, who hasn't played since her first-round exit at the Singapore Open in June 2023, has battled injuries in the latter part of her career. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, having finished with a bronze at London 2012, in a career of many firsts. She is also the first Indian to have reached the final of the badminton World Championships, and the first Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships. In a social media post earlier this year, popular badminton commentator and former doubles player Gill Clark had described 35-year-old Saina's legacy as remarkable, stating that she was the player who inspired a badminton revolution in India. 'Like Billie Jean King, the former tennis player and winner of a staggering 39 Grand Slam titles, who probably did more to enhance and promote women's sport globally than any other athlete in history, Saina made such an impact that she, along with a handful of other female athletes including Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting) and Mary Kom (boxing) helped change perceptions of women's sport in India,' Clark had written. 'Saina not only created interest and inspired mass participation of badminton within her home country, her results made others also believe success was possible, and not just for female players. H S Prannoy credited her mindset for a change in all Indian players when facing tougher opponents.'
Hans India
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Hans India
Telangana to unveil new sports policy 2025 at major conclave today
Hyderabad: All arrangements have been made for the Sports Conclave organised by the Sports Department to officially launch the Telangana Sports Policy 2025 at an event to be held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) on Saturday. The purpose of this Sports Conclave is to introduce the Telangana Sports Policy 2025 to the entire sports community and to promote wider participation in its implementation. Officials have completed all necessary preparations for this major event. Key participants attending the programme include renowned sports analyst Charu Sharma, former Olympians and Indian sports legends like Pullela Gopichand, Gagan Narang, and Anju Bobby George, representatives of various sports federations and associations, and leading sports journalists, including Vishwanathan and Sabha Nayak, along with several other senior journalists. These individuals will be active participants in the event, contributing to key discussions and panels. Policy Focus Areas include: robust sports governance; the long-term development of sports; career and employment pathways in sports; the development of sports infrastructure; and the creation of a comprehensive sports ecosystem across the state. The policy has been crafted over the past year based on the vision of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, with dedicated efforts by the Telangana Sports Authority. The state will also sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with global sports bodies like FIFA, leading corporates, and renowned sports experts—an important step toward building strong, sustainable partnerships for the future of sports in Telangana. 'This is just the beginning,' said Shivasena Reddy, the Sports Authority Chairman. 'Under the leadership of the Telangana Sports Authority, many more national and international events will follow. Telangana has already proven its capability to host events of this scale.' He also praised the dedication of sports department officials, the support from the state government, and the Chief Minister's personal commitment as the foundation upon which the Telangana Sports Policy 2025 has taken shape. He emphasised that the conclave aims to promote this policy across India, ensure wide participation in its implementation, and garner national-level support for various future sports initiatives.
