Punjab Emerges as New Powerhouse in Indian Badminton

Young shuttlers from Punjab are driving a major revival in the sport, bringing home international medals and inspiring a new wave of players across the state. In the Badminton World Junior Championships, Tanvi Sharma from Hoshiarpur and Jagsher Singh Khangurra from Nabha have both secured medals for India in consecutive editions. Jagsher recently claimed a bronze medal in Cairo, while Tanvi won a silver at the 2025 World Juniors.

Growth and Infrastructure

This success is part of a broader badminton boom across Punjab. For the first time in the history of the North Zone Badminton Championships, ten players from the state won medals across age groups and seniors. Small-scale academies have grown four-fold over the past five years with twenty centers now operating, while the number of synthetic courts in the state increased from four to ten in three years. The Punjab government also invested nearly three and a half crore rupees to upgrade the Raizada Hansraj stadium in Jalandhar.

Rising Talents

New talent is emerging from rural areas including Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, and Phagwara. Players like Mehvish Kaur, Japleen Kaur, and Inayat Gulati are winning state and national ranking titles, with Inayat later selected for the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati. Coaches estimate that around two hundred girl trainees joined state academies after being inspired by Tanvi's silver medal performance.

Reform and Leadership

Association management has also shifted following years of past administrative disputes and local politics that once forced former player Sachin Ratti out of the state. Following legal battles, former national-level player and media publisher Ritin Khanna took over association leadership in 2021. The state body now pays elite coaches a monthly salary of one lakh rupees, provides first-class train travel for top players, and plans to bring in a foreign coach alongside pushing the government to subsidize shuttlecocks.

Context

Regional sports revivals in India often rely on a combination of upgraded grassroots infrastructure and breakout individual role models to attract youth. Badminton has grown rapidly across multiple Indian states in recent years through dedicated private academies and structured state-level ranking tournaments. Administrative reforms and financial support are crucial for helping talented players from smaller towns transition to elite national and international competition.