Badminton Association of India

The game of badminton in India is though not as popular as its more glamorous cousins like cricket and tennis, but the game is still being taken up by a healthy fan following of youngsters throughout the country. Though the international success of this game has its frequent ups and downs, this sport at the domestic level has been alive and kicking due to the rich pool of talents in the country. On an official level, the management of all the domestic and international badminton related activities in the country is done by Badminton Association of India.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is basically the central administrative body entrusted with the responsibility of managing the game of badminton in country. The BAI seeks to encourage, control, and develop the game of badminton in India by organizing coaching, tournaments and exhibition games through affiliated organizations on an amateur basis in order to increase the ground level popularity of the game of badminton on a frequent basis. The Badminton Association of India is also expected to find out the raw and budding badminton talents throughout the country and help them get aid, assistance and sponsorship for further excellence in the game.

The Badminton Association of India has its origin from the All India Badminton Association which came into existence in 1934 with Sarat Kumar Mitra as the founding president. Mitra also played a key role in setting up the West Bengal Badminton Association, one of the first affiliated associations. The All India Badminton Association was rechristened in 1940 to form Badminton Association of India and is active till present date. The Association now gas about 40 affiliated organizations in various states throughout the country.

The Badminton Association of India is also responsible for keeping the details and the track records of the registered players of the Indian Badminton arena. BAI also issues their ranking according to their performance on a regular basis. Badminton Association of India is held accountable for the selection of the players for international events. Like the regulatory association of other sports, the Badminton Association of India is also responsible for giving official appointment to the coach for the Indian Badminton Association and generates sponsorships for the game.

Though Badminton in India enjoys moderate popularity, the Badminton Association of India needs to do a lot for making this game more popular amongst the youngsters in the country. Training camps and guidance session by experts can be organized in various parts of the country to generate a basic level awareness about this sport in the country. Badminton in India is very familiar game, so a little effort by Badminton Association of India can lead to a boost in popularity of the sports in a very short span of time.