Indian players need to be mentally stronger: Dipankar Bhattacharjee

Guwahati, Aug 21:Indian athletes secured six medals at the Paris Olympics, but they also finished in fourth place on six occasions. Had those fourth-place finishes been converted into medals, India could have potentially brought home 12 medals. Achieving this requires not just a bit of luck but, more importantly, greater mental toughness.

Former two-time Olympian and national badminton champion Dipankar Bhattacharjee emphasises the importance of mental toughness training for athletes. "One area that needs greater emphasis is mental toughness training. I believe we have neglected this area, which is why our athletes struggle to withstand the immense pressure of expectations from the entire country," said Dipankar, who represented India in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, during a conversation with The Assam Tribune.

He added, "While our athletes succeed in individual major championships like the World Championships, which do not receive as much media coverage, they tend to falter at the Olympics, where the spotlight is intense and everyone is closely following their every move."

Despite these challenges, the Assam-born player remains optimistic about the progress Indian athletes have made over the years. He also acknowledged the positive impact of government initiatives and the contributions of private sector companies.

"India's performance at the Olympics has evolved from 'no medals' to'single medals' to'multiple medals.' This progress has been made possible due to several schemes by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and support from private organisations like JSW and the Reliance Foundation," said Dipankar, who now runs a badminton academy in Mumbai. "Most importantly, the incorporation of sports science in the preparation process has played a significant role. However, there is still room for improvement."

Discussing the performance of Indian badminton players, Dipankar highlighted Lakshya Sen as the biggest hope among them. Lakshya came close to winning a medal in badminton but failed, losing his semifinal match to top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. He later went down closely to Li Zhi Jia in the bronze medal match. 

"Our men's doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, was a strong medal contender. They impressively defeated the top Indonesian pair in the pre-quarterfinals, and we were confident they could overcome the Malaysian team in the quarters. However, Chirag Shetty seemed to become overly anxious, leading to several technical and tactical errors that ultimately cost us a medal," he analysed.

He continued, "Then comes Lakshya Sen. Entering the Olympics as something of a dark horse, Lakshya was ranked 23rd in the world, much lower than his compatriot, HS Prannoy, who was ranked 11th. Yet, it was Lakshya who came tantalisingly close to securing a medal in men's badminton. It's hard to place blame on Lakshya, as the pressure of winning a medal rested heavily on his young shoulders."

Notably, this is the first time that seven Indian badminton players have qualified for the Olympics, marking the largest and strongest contingent ever.