I don’t have financial support to play international tournaments, says shuttler Sourabh Verma
Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma is perturbed owing to the lack of financial support for participating in international tournaments and said that it is a huge burden. The ace shuttler had won the Senior Nationals Title in Guwahati last week and it was his third title in the competition over the years.
Sourabh Verma is a worried sportsman due to his financial concerns to take part in the tournaments abroad. He had appealed that according to the new rule only the top 25 players were being financed due to which he doesn’t get enough international exposure and hence the slip in his rankings.   Â
“I don’t have financial support to play international tournaments. Now due to the new rule, only the top 25 players are getting financial help from BAI. That led to my international exposure being reduced and hence my ranking slipped,” Verma was quoted as saying by The Hindu.Â
Verma was ranked No.30 in 2012, his career best but following a course of injuries, but his rankings have now slipped to No.55 at present. He has acknowledged that the Dutch Open was financed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) but for the Swiss Open and the Orleans Open, he had to take care of the expenses by himself. Â
“Of course, Dutch was financed by BAI after my performance in two domestic events but if I get financial support, I can do well. I will be playing
The Senior Nationals Title winner further added that he will have to play about ten to twelve tournaments to improve his rankings but since there was a shortfall in sponsorship, it has become a big burden for him to manage everything from his pocket.Â
“I need to play at least 10-12 tournaments to get more ranking points. I had a knee problem last year, which I had to take care by myself. I am playing tournaments on my own. As a player, it becomes a big burden if you have to manage all by yourself,” Verma said.
The 26-year-old badminton player had won two Super 100 titles in the Russia Open and the Dutch Open. He had also won the Chinese Taipei Masters and secured the runners-up at Bitburger Open, Polish International and Belgian International in 2016. He lamented the fact that he had a lot of injuries following poor workload management after 2017 but he had recovered properly and was aware of the importance of balancing play and rest more than ever.
“After 2017, I had frequent injuries due to training overload. So I worked on my body and now I am more aware
