The BOSM English Press sat down with Gurum Bajaj, the Captain of the Boys’ Badminton Team, for an interview to discuss their preparations for BOSM.

There would be three major events in the badminton section—a men’s team event with five players, a women’s team event with four players, and a mixed team event with eight players. All the events will have three singles and two doubles matches. Each match will consist of three rounds of 21 points each. The tournament will kick-off with a group stage format followed by knockouts.

The badminton team started training a month prior to BOSM. Their initial focus was to build stamina, but in recent weeks, practising on court has been their top priority. Gurum stated that their major rivals would be the teams from Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and Sri Venkateswara College (Venky), both of whom have been bagging medals at BOSM for the last five years. He added that BITS Goa’s team would also serve as a challenge.

While talking about the issues faced by the team, Gurum stated how the inventory for the team, which had been ordered three months ago, still had not arrived. This meant that the team would have less than a week to get accustomed to new gear. He also mentioned that, because of ‘internal issues’, the list of participating colleges had also not been given to him. 

Talking about recruitments, the badminton team held an open recruitment for members from all batches. Gurum mentioned that certain new recruits had a crucial role to play in this tournament and that the team valued skill over time spent with the team. 

‘Managing is hectic, but it’s fun as well’ said Gurum when questioned about his experience leading a team. When asked how he managed academics with sports, Gurum conceded that academics do take a hit, but he planned to cover it up post-BOSM.