Age fraud: No ranking points for Mohali U-13 badminton meet

badminton tournaments have been hit by the menace of age fraud. As the Badminton Association of India (BAI) began its probe into allegations of more than 60 per cent of participants at the All-India Sub-junior U-13 ranking badminton tournament in Hyderabad being overage, the ongoing Under-13 ranking meet in Mohali is also facing the heat.

While the embers of the Hyderabad event hasn’t exactly died down, more than 60 aggrieved parents of the participants in Mohali shot a letter to the organizing secretary Tejinder Bedi, protesting the participation of overage players in the week-long tournament. It has been learnt that of the 396 players under scrutiny, 43 out of the 232 male players and 21 out of the 164 females have been allowed to participate by mere production of medical certificates.

The letter, which is in possession of TOI, was also tagged to the BAI top brass, including BAI President and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Secretary Sanjay Mishra, and Joint secretary Omar Rashid along with the age fraud committee of the national federation. “This is a formal application to stage a protest by parents against a number of players that are overaged playing in the tournament.

Kindly please note that formal complaints had already been given at Hyderabad against various players and we see that no action has been taken against these players,” read the letter, signed by more than 30 parents. “We are all expecting that action will be taken against these fraudsters immediately,” the letter added.

On Wednesday, the organizing committee decided to strip ranking points from the meet, while assuring the parents of conducting proper medical tests of the suspected players apart from their other documents. The committee, however, decided