Badminton India: Who's next after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu? 

Their exemplary performance on global platforms has brought India under the limelight in many important worlds over championships like the Olympics, Commonwealth and many more. Saina was only 23 when she had already won several Super Series tournaments, an Olympic bronze and a Commonwealth gold. Similarly, by that age, Sindhu had also won a silver medal at the Olympics and three world championships. Now Sindhu is in her mid-20s, and Saina is in her late 20s, and there are no more Indian women in the field who could match their prowess so far. 

Though Saina and Sindhu still have many years left in their career, as long as they can maintain the same stamina, there's a need for women in Indian badminton who can take their position once they decide to retire. Two women with good talent are Mughda Agrey and Rituparna Das, but they are nowhere close to the two great names. While Saina and Sindhu have maintained their international position in the top 10, Mughda Agrey and Rituparna Das currently hold 62nd and 64th positions, which is not good enough to compete. 

This gap between the capabilities of the senior and junior players is enormous and needs to be fixed. "We haven't had a programme for the younger group. We have not given any of the younger players exposure," said the chief national coach of India, Pullela Gopichand. "The transition between junior to senior, we haven't done anything for them."

The men's singles players' situation is far better in India than in women's. There are already 7 Indian men holding a place in the top 50 players of the world. There's also an outstanding junior next in line, Lakshay Sen, who will soon make it to the top 50 and currently holds the second position in the junior category. Srikanth Kidambi has a place in the top 10 and is doing excessively well on international platforms. 

As far as keeping the chain continuous is concerned, there is no doubt that it must be maintained, else it will be too hard to win the name back that Sindhu and Saina have made. U Vimal Kumar, the former chief national coach, believes there are not enough good academies in India. Everybody goes to the south to gain training. While there is Prakash Padukone's academy in Bangalore and Gopichand's academy in Hyderabad, there is a need for good academies in the north which could train players for international tournaments.