AGE FRAUD CLAIM AGAINST TOP INDIA SHUTTLER
INDIA’S number one badminton player Lakshya Sen, his family and former national coach Vimal Kumar were accused of cheating and age fraud last week in the south Indian city of Bangalore.
An FIR [first information report] filed last Thursday (1) by M Goviappa Nagaraja, alleged that the 21-year-old reigning Commonwealth Games champion, and his brother Chirag Sen, had lied about their age in order to play tournaments since 2010.
Nagaraja alleged that Kumar colluded with Lakshya’s parents to forge a birth certificate in 2010. The complaint also names Sen’s father Dhirendra, a coach with the Sports Authority of India, mother Nirmala and Kumar, who has coached the duo for more than 10 years.
They have been charged with cheating (Section 420), forgery (468), using a forged document as genuine (471) and acts done by several persons of common intention (34) under the Indian Penal Code.
The Sen brothers train under Kumar at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore, while Nagaraja runs another academy in the city.
If the charges are proved, the star Indian shuttler, who was last Wednesday (30) presented with an Arjuna Award, the country’s second-highest sporting honour recently, will have to forego a lot of his records.
However, categorically denying the charges, Kumar said: “It is very annoying. It is cheap stuff. Lakshya has done well and has started training again after a break. It is mentally very disturbing for him.”
Currently ranked sixth in the world, Lakshya won a World Championship bronze after going down to compatriot Kidambi Srikanth in 2021. He was also a runner-up in the All England Championships and played a key role in India’s historic Thomas Cup triumph earlier this year.
Kumar, who is also the chief coach at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, added that the allegations were “baseless, frivolous and made with malicious intent”.
“As all badminton lovers are aware, age verification is the sole prerogative and responsibility of the Badminton Association of India [BAI], which is the sole governing authority for administering the game in India,” Kumar said.
“My focus over the 30 years as a coach has always been to groom our upcoming youngsters to the best of my ability to bring laurels for our country.
“I therefore deny all these false allegations against me. I would not like to make any further comments in this regard.”
As per the complaint, Lakshya’s age is 24, while the date of birth (August 16, 2001) registered with the BAI makes him three years younger.
His older brother Chirag, on the other hand, is alleged to be 26, though his BAI records show him to be 24 (July 22, 1998).
Lakshya and his family are yet to respond to the claims.