LUCKNOW, July 9 -- Uttar Pradesh has played a remarkable role in the history of Indian badminton. The state produced a line of gifted players who brought pride to the country and helped build the sport's early reputation in India. Among them, Syed Modi stands tallest, but he was part of a broader tradition that included Meena Shah, Damayanti Tambay, and several other notable names. Together, they gave Uttar Pradesh a legacy of skill, discipline, and competitive spirit. At the same time, the story of badminton in the state is also a story of decline, because the once-strong pipeline of talent has not been sustained at the same level in recent decades. Syed Modi remains the most celebrated badminton figure from the state. Currently, only three senior players-Siddharth Mishra (32nd) in the men's, Mansi Singh (3rd) and Amolika Singh (13th) in the women's-are on the latest rankings of the Badminton Association of India (BAI). The future of badminton in UP looks bleak even though there are a number of private academies, including one of the state's games body, in the state for badminton training. "Syed Modi was a great shuttler and he gave UP special recognition in world badminton with his aggressive playing style. We always had some fine shuttlers including Meena Shah, Dayanti Tambe, Sanjay Mehrotra, Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Sushant Saxena, Utsav Mishra, and Niharika Tandon, but now we have lost that legacy of stars," said Vijay Sinha, former secretary of the UP Badminton Association. "There was a time when badminton was a passion for people in UP, but this has become a money-making business and owners of the game are busy in their own politics," said Sinha, who was also the former secretary general of BAI. Undoubtedly, Syed Modi, born in Gorakhpur, became one of India's finest men's singles players in the 1980s. He won the national singles title eight times in a row from 1980 to 1987, a record that reflected both his consistency and his dominance. His greatest international triumph came at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, where he won gold for India. Modi was known for his accuracy, court intelligence, and calm style of play. He was not only a champion but also a symbol of what Indian badminton could achieve when talent met hard work. His tragic death in 1988 ended a brilliant career, but his memory continues to live on through the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships in Lucknow. Long before and alongside Modi, Meena Shah helped lay the foundation of badminton in the state. She was among India's earliest women stars and became a national champion repeatedly in the 1950s and 1960s. Her success was important because it gave Indian women's badminton a strong and respected face at a time when the sport was still developing. In UP, her achievements carried special meaning. She showed that the state could also produce women players who could dominate the national stage. Her name is still remembered as one of the pioneers who made badminton a serious and respected sport in the state. Damayanti Tambay also belongs to this proud legacy. She emerged as one of the strongest women players of her generation and represented Uttar Pradesh at a high level. Her career reflected the same qualities that defined the best UP shuttlers' technical control, mental strength, and a competitive temperament. Yet the decline of badminton in UP is hard to ignore. In the past, the state regularly produced champions who could dominate domestic tournaments and make an impression beyond India. Today, that level of consistency is missing. UP no longer enjoys the same presence in national badminton, and its international impact has also weakened. The reasons are many. The state's golden generation was built largely on individual brilliance rather than a deep, wide sporting system. As those stars retired or moved away, the support structure did not grow fast enough to replace them. Other states developed stronger academies, better coaching, and more modern training environments, while UP struggled to keep pace. This decline has affected both domestic and international standards. At the national level, UP has found it difficult to produce players who can regularly challenge for titles. Internationally, it has produced fewer shuttlers capable of sustained success. "We do have a number of academies - almost 20-25 in Lucknow alone - but that spark is missing in coaches as well as in players too. We need to have a certain plan and structured system to lift the standard of play in the state and that's the reason why talented ones are migrating to other states for better training," said former SAI badminton coach Devendra Kaushal on Wednesday. Former doubles player Neeraj Mishra too advocated for a constructive approach of the authorities concerned for the uplift of the games' standard. "I would love to see the old good days of badminton in Uttar Pradesh, but for that we need to have a constructive approach for its development," said Mishra....