‘This country is a joke,’ HS Prannoy slams BAI over Arjuna Award snub

The 27-year-old shuttler won a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Indian badminton player HS Prannoy has expressed his disappointment after being snubbed for the Arjuna Award nominations for the second year in a row.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) sent their recommendations to the sports ministry for the award on Tuesday, which included the names of India’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men’s singles player Sameer Verma.

HS Prannoy took to Twitter and slammed BAI for their decision. He questioned the criteria for Arjuna Award nomination by saying that the players who have won nothing in their career are recommended in place of those who have won medals in Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships.

The Indian shuttler tweeted, “Same old story. Guy who has Medals in CWG and Asian Championships not even recommended by Association. And guy who was not there AT any of these major events recommended.”

Another Indian badminton player Parupalli Kashyap, who reached the quarterfinals at the 2012 London Olympics, has also questioned the criteria of selection for the award. He tweeted, “Never actually understood the system of applying for an award. I hope this changes. Be strong bro.”

For the Dronacharya Award, BAI nominated the famous National Institute of Sports (NIS)-certified coaches S Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu. A release from the association read, “BAI has diligently assessed the performances of the athletes and coaches during the last four years before sending the names to the Sports Ministry for the recommendation.”

HS Prannoy had lashed out at the association last year as well after he was left out of the list. He had tweeted, “If you ever want your name in the Awards list, make sure you have people who will get your name on the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad state of our county, but can’t help it. Let go and just play until you can.”

Various sports federations in India have recommended their athletes for the Arjuna Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and other prestigious sports awards for the year 2020. Indian women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal, Boxer Amit Panghal and Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra among others have been nominated for the Khel Ratna Award by their respective federations.