NE Olympics: Nagaland shuttler wants to prove herself with individual crown

Shillong: “Nijor nisina kunu hobo nuare jana (none can be like your own ones),” says Debahuti Lahon as she arranges two seats in a safe corner away from the Nagaland badminton contingent to share her ordeal with EastMojo.

After losing her singles match 0-3 to Assam in the mixed team quarterfinals at the 2nd North East Olympic Games, Debahuti was dejected and wanted to bounce back with the individual crown for Nagaland, her adopted state.

Nagaland bowed out of the initial round in the team championship after losing to Assam, who set up their date with Manipur in the mixed team final after registering a 3-0 win over Meghalaya at the SAI Indoor Hall, here on Friday.

Manipur, meanwhile, stormed into the final with a 3-0 win over Arunachal Pradesh.

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Bruised and battered by the loss, there were whispers the Nagaland side found a soft target in Debahuti, who was India’s No 7-ranked shuttler in singles at the Under-17 level. Add to that, Debahuti, now 19, achieved a career-best No 3 rank in women’s doubles.

“If I am spending time with my former teammates, and players from my home state, what’s wrong with that? On the court, we are rivals, off the court we are friends, and have been with each other since our sub-junior days. Does it mean I will side with them when I represent another team? Of course now, we are professional players, if my loss made the difference, what about the other matches in which they should have won and beaten Assam,” Debahuti clarified to EastMojo.

For badminton fans, Debahuti needs no introduction. The teen sensation has already stamped her authority in the junior circuit across the country, and as she began her hunt for glory in the senior class, her dreams hit a roadblock after her move to Nagaland, thanks to her new job in Kohima.

Debahuti recently joined the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in Kohima, which she feels is miles behind Guwahati in terms of infrastructure for badminton. And that’s the roadblock.

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Debahuti describes it candidly. “Lack of competition makes one complacent, and today I found it tough to get my drop shots, push shots and smashes right. I know I need to work hard to get the old Debahuti back.”

On most weekends, Debahuti now travels from Kohima to Guwahati to train with her former teammates.

“After the lockdown, the CAG conducted trials for shuttlers, and I thought of giving myself a chance. And thankfully, I was selected for the post of clerical typist in Kohima, the job timings allow me to complete my work by noon, and head for training. However, there are no academies for training there, so all we manage is some light training and a few odd games,” Debahuti said.

“The mindset towards sports needs a massive change back in Kohima. We need competition, fierce competition, not hobby shuttlers. Also if you speak of infrastructure, there is no comparison to Guwahati, which also needs improvement if you want to compare it with the powerhouses of Indian badminton like Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” Debahuti added.

A student of B Baruah College, pursuing her graduation, the 19-year-old further said that the sport is mostly concentrated in the pockets of Dimapur, and most of her current teammates train in the SAI centre there.

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But what baffles her is that most players in the state’s capital city skip regular training sessions, but crowd up during the trials ahead of any major event, due to which they are left red-faced in big-ticket competitions.

“When you play a sport, you need to follow a routine, and train regularly. But you won’t believe, most players often end up missing training sessions, and suddenly a few days ahead of competitions, they line up to take part in trials,” Debahuti said.

“Also lack of permanent coaches doesn’t help the shuttler’s cause. Be it Dimapur or Kohima, both cities do not have a full time coach, which means the athletes are left to train themselves or with little help from seniors, who themselves have learnt the tricks without any proper guidance,” she lamented.

Well, Debahuti isn’t the only player to lament the absence of full-time coaches as the men’s doubles pair of Teichang Herie and Peranrisi Zehiang also echoed similar sentiments.

“Yeah, that’s a major obstacle we have to face day in and day out in Dimapur. Right from the sub-junior level, we had to take care of our own training, injuries, and recovery. Only during major tournaments, the association appoints a coach for some six months or so, and then we are left headless. Also the lack of proper infrastructure is a major problem, as the courts are often overcrowded and the private academy is beyond reach for players coming from middle and lower middle class families,” the duo said in unison.