BAI to conduct age tests before season start

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BENGALURU: Badminton Association of India president Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that players will be put through tests before the start of the season to tackle the problem of overage players.

"This will eliminate any unnecessary issues from coming to the fore during a tournament,” Sarma told the Deccan Herald on the eve of the departure of Indian teams for the Badminton Asia Junior Championships.

Sarma however said that the players would not be penalised but would simply be moved up to a higher category. “We are of the opinion that it is more of the parents’ fault when it comes to age fraud. Since the players themselves are innocent, we will push them to their correct age category, if found to be over the permissible age,” he added. 

The BAI chief also launched a scholarship programme for juniors, entitling the selected 20 players to a stipend between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000. "There have been a lot of talented youngsters who have had to drop out of the game due to financial constraints. We want to minimise that as much as possible and hence we are looking to provide scholarship to about 20 juniors initially and then increase the numbers slowly."