Kolkata:
Former All England champion and veteran badminton star Pullela Gopichand on Saturday demanded corporate houses in the country to come forward and help the game and other sports in finding their rightful place.
Speaking at a felicitation programme organised by the Bengal Badminton Academy here, Gopichand lamented that sports is not a priority in India.
Even though some other games are supported, the main focus always remains cricket, he said while asking corporates to extend their support to other games as well.
Talking about the present badminton scenario in the country, the former India champion shuttler, who took over the mantle from another badminton great Prakash Padukone said, the game is mainly popular among the southern states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
"But states like West Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh once produced a number of top badminton players in the country."
West Bengal has a lot of talented young players, but they lack proper infrastructure to groom them, he said.
Speaking at a felicitation programme organised by the Bengal Badminton Academy here, Gopichand lamented that sports is not a priority in India.
Even though some other games are supported, the main focus always remains cricket, he said while asking corporates to extend their support to other games as well.
Talking about the present badminton scenario in the country, the former India champion shuttler, who took over the mantle from another badminton great Prakash Padukone said, the game is mainly popular among the southern states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
"But states like West Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh once produced a number of top badminton players in the country."
West Bengal has a lot of talented young players, but they lack proper infrastructure to groom them, he said.
