Badminton Association of India

Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the umbrella organization which governs the sport of Badminton in the country. It was formed in 1934 and is registered under the societies act. It is affiliated to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the world governing body for the sport.

The BAI, headquartered in Lucknow, organizes all the national level tournaments in the country, apart from popularizing and nurturing the sport in the country. It keeps all the track records and ranking details of registered badminton players in the country. The BAI is the accredited representative of all the affiliated organizations and is formed of the twenty eight State Badminton Association members and eight affiliated members. The state members Associations register players in the state and organize state level tournaments.

The Badminton Association of India has recently accepted a proposal by the Maharashtra Badminton Association to hold an Indian Badminton Premier league on the lines on the Cricket premier League in the country. It is tentatively to be held in August this year.

Responsibility
According to its constitution the main aims of the Association are to encourage, develop, and standardize the game. It promotes the game by organizing tournaments, exhibition matches, and organizes coaching of the players. Through its affiliation members it promotes the game at schools and universities, and through junior and sub junior tournaments.

A slew of tournaments are held annually, at various venues, in the country, for adults, men and women and for junior boys and girls.

The Association maintains the general control with reference to the rules and regulations for the conduct of the game in India. It selects the teams to represent India and promotes, controls and finances visits for International participation.

The BAI also maintains a panel of coaches. Pullela Gopichand, former Indian National Champion and only the second Indian to win the All England Championship, is the national coach.

The Executive Council
The office bearers of the Association are members of the Executive Council. They are the one who run and govern the organization. Normally badminton players with outstanding records are inducted into the Council. Prakash Padukone, India's most famous player has served as the President of the BAI. The Executive Council has a President, eight Vice Presidents, an Honorary General secretary, an Honorary Treasurer, eight Joint Secretaries, and an Advisor. The members have a four year term.

The Chairmen of four Sub committees are Ex Officio Vice Presidents of the Executive Council. These members have voting power. The four Sub committees of the Association are the Central Tournament Committee, Finance, Business and Rules committee, Planning and Development Committee and the Court Officials committee.

The current Executive Council of the BAI has a President, twelve Vice Presidents, an Advisor and Treasurer, a General Secretary, seven Joint Secretaries and fifteen Executive Members.

The current President is Dr Akhilesh Gupta (MP), some of the other office bearers are Vice Presidents Abdul Bari Siddiqui , Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Devender Singh - IAS Joint Secretary, Govt.of India, Ministry of Power, Vinod Dhawan, T.P.S.Puri, Hon.Treasurer Ashok Bajaj, Secretary (Events) Punnaiah Choudary, and Advisor Kode Durga Prasad - IPS.



Last Updated on 06/15/2012