SAI Denies Funds Over Deadline Miss: Indian Shuttlers Left To Pay Own Way Due To Financial Setback

PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen capped India’s European badminton swing with singles titles at the Hylo Open in Germany on Sunday, closing a strong run that was clouded by a funding setback. The campaign covered four tournaments in Finland, Denmark, France and Germany.

The Sports Authority of India withheld funds for the European tour, forcing several Indian shuttlers to cover their own costs. Players learned of the move only days before the Arctic Open opened in Vantaa on October 6, giving them little room to rearrange travel.

The funding issue mattered beyond logistics. It affected travel, stay and support arrangements through the tour, even as Indian players still produced deep runs and major wins on court.

Funding Cut Details

The funding gap hit basic expenses. The Indian Express reported that the Sports Authority of India did not release money for the Indian contingent’s campaign across Finland, Denmark, France and Germany.

Players were told just days before the Arctic Open started in Vantaa on October 6. For much of the tour, they had to cover travel, food and accommodation costs on their own.

The Badminton Association of India told players it would arrange accommodation for the opening event in Finland. For the remaining tournaments, players were expected to bear the costs themselves.

Support staff also took a hit. Some players could not afford to travel with their coaches and had to compete without their usual courtside help.

Ashmita Chaliha had teammate Isharani Baruah beside her at the French Open, where she beat world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi. Tanvi Sharma, meanwhile, played the Denmark Open without a coach.

Why Funding Stopped

The withdrawal sparked questions. Some officials suggested it may have been linked to India’s performance at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where the team failed to win an individual badminton medal for the first time since 2014.

The Indian Express reported that a senior SAI official denied that link. The official said funding was not released because the Badminton Association of India did not submit the proposal within the stipulated timeline.

SAI’s guidelines require federations to send proposals 30 days before a tournament. That window was itself revised after federations said earlier deadlines of 90 days and 60 days were difficult to meet.

The required proposal, including player names, was not received on time, the official said. The Indian Express also reported that SAI said funding for upcoming tournaments has been restored, but players will not be reimbursed for expenses they incurred during the European campaign.

Results And Reactions

The results still came. Sindhu reached the French Open final before losing to South Korea’s An Se-young, while Chaliha registered a significant win over Yamaguchi and Anmol Kharb reached the semi-finals of the Hylo Open.

Germany brought the biggest payoff. Lakshya ended a year-long wait for a title by winning the men’s singles crown, while Sindhu claimed her second title of the year.

The win meant more for Sindhu. It was her first year since 2017 with two BWF World Tour titles at Super 500 level or higher, and it boosted her World Tour Finals hopes while lifting her back to No. 6 in the rankings.

She was taken aback when she learnt the funding had not come through. “When I got to know, I was a bit shocked and wondered how the funding hadn’t gone through. I hadn't faced something like that before,” Sindhu said.

She said she chose to play on and find a way through the problem. “But at that point, I couldn't really decide that if there was no funding, I wouldn't play. For me, the priority was to participate and focus on what I needed to do, how I needed to play my matches and keep on improving. Obviously, it was surprising that we couldn't get the funding, whatever the reason may have been. I managed the funding on my own a bit and OGQ (Olympic Gold Quest, her backers) also helped me in this,” Sindhu said.

Her focus, she said, stayed on performance. “For me, the focus was on how I could improve my performance. That was the most important thing at the end of the day. See, these things keep happening, but they shouldn't stop us,” Sindhu said.