'India is not yet a sporting nation; I'll not let my kid play badminton': Satwik-Chirag

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, one of India's top badminton players and bronze medal winner from the Thomas Cup 2026, said that he will not have his child play the sport due to the lack of support for it among Indian sports fans. His doubles partner, Chirag Shetty, added that despite the recent triumphs in badminton, 'nobody in India still cares.'

The conversation around Indian sports fans failing to acknowledge the recent bronze medal win for the Indian men's badminton team at the prestigious Thomas Cup in Denmark began after a haunting Instagram story by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on Tuesday, in which he posted images of the team leaving for the tournament from an Indian airport and them of being back in India.

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No support for Indian badminton

Satwik tried to highlight how their winning a medal for India made no difference to the locals, as people at the airport remained oblivious to what the shuttlers had achieved.

"Back home now. As usual, no one knows what happened over the past two weeks, and it seems like no one really cares," Satwik wrote on the story.

Later, in an interview with the Indian Express, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy revealed that he was sad that Indians at the airport had no interest in celebrating the badminton achievement as they remained busy with the IPL and politics.

"We were at the airport, taking a seven-hour flight back from Germany to Hyderabad. Nobody even asked us who we were or what medals we had won. There were so many Indians, many Telugus. We were wearing Thomas Cup jerseys, but everyone was busy with IPL, politics, whatever," Satwiksairaj said.

"It was the same thing when we won gold in 2022. We should have celebrated much more. People don't realise these chances might not come again. It is very tough to win the Thomas Cup; even medalling is difficult. When we landed at the airport, all the players -- Prannoy, Srikanth, and Dhruv -- were just booking cabs. Nobody around seemed to notice. My friends came to pick me up, but I felt really sad looking around at that airport scene: top athletes trying to book cabs."

'India is not yet a sporting nation'

Satwik's badminton partner, Chirag, stressed that India is far from becoming a "sporting nation" as the importance of the team winning the first-ever Thomas Cup gold medal in 2022 has still not dawned upon them.

"It was that feeling that 'still nobody cares.' See, we never expected people would flock to the airport to receive us. Last time we won, we were well-received, met the PM, and were felicitated. But it wasn't celebrated the way it should have been. Those who watch badminton appreciate it, but the general public just doesn't grasp the magnitude of the 2022 win. It makes me sad that we are not yet a sporting nation. There's only so much the government and the federation can do-their schemes are terrific-but the sporting ecosystem itself doesn't celebrate achievement," Chirag said.

A frustrated Satwik dropped a bigger bombshell when he said he wouldn't want his kid to play badminton in India due to the lack of recognition and public support.

"When Chirag's dancing celebration reel went viral, I was happy. But then I remembered how someone can play some random thing and get a million followers, and I ask myself, 'Why?' Here we are fighting to win, and if we get injured, there's no replacement for us. We play without support and under immense pressure in team events. But even a title wasn't enough last time, nor again this time. I told Prannoy I'll not let my kid play badminton. If you are mentally strong, you'll manage, but otherwise, it's really tough to keep going when a large part of the country is oblivious to your performance. Frankly, at the Hyderabad academy, we were felicitated, and that small bouquet and cake-cutting ceremony was enough. We don't expect anything grand," he added.