PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen signed off India's European badminton campaign with titles at the Hylo Open in Germany. Sindhu has now revealed that none of the Indian badminton players received their government funding for the Europe leg.PV Sindhu alleges that Indian badminton players were not given any funds for European leg. (AP Photo) PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen ended India's European badminton campaign on a high, winning singles titles at the Hylo Open in Germany on Sunday.

But behind the success was a funding setback that left several Indian shuttlers paying their own way through a four-tournament European swing.As reported by The Indian Express, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) did not release funding for the Indian contingent's campaign across Finland, Denmark, France and Germany. Players were informed of the decision just days before the Arctic Open began in Vantaa on October 6, leaving them with little time to make alternative arrangements.Sindhu, who also reached the final of the French Open earlier in the campaign, said she was surprised when she learnt that the funding had not come through.

The Olympic medallist managed some of the expenses herself."When I got to know, I was a bit shocked and wondered how the funding hadn’t gone through. I hadn't faced something like that before," Sindhu told The Indian Express. "But at that point, I couldn't really decide that if there was no funding, I wouldn't play.

For me, the priority was to participate and focus on what I needed to do, how I needed to play my matches and keep on improving. Obviously, it was surprising that we couldn't get the funding, whatever the reason may have been.

I managed the funding on my own a bit and OGQ (Olympic Gold Quest, her backers) also helped me in this."PLAYERS FUND THEIR OWN CAMPAIGNThe funding issue reportedly forced players to take care of travel, food and accommodation expenses for much of the tour. While the Badminton Association of India (BAI) told players it would arrange accommodation for the opening tournament in Finland, they were expected to bear the costs for the remaining events.

The impact was also felt on the court. Some players could not afford to travel with their coaches, leaving them without their usual support during matches.

Ashmita Chaliha, who beat world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi at the French Open, had teammate Isharani Baruah in her corner during the tournament.

Tanvi Sharma also competed without a coach at the Denmark Open.WHY WAS THE FUNDING PULLED?The funding decision raised questions within Indian badminton, with officials suggesting that the withdrawal could have been linked to the team's performance at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. India failed to win an individual badminton medal at the continental event for the first time since 2014.However, a senior SAI official denied that the decision had anything to do with the Asian Games results.

The official told The Indian Express that the funding was not released because BAI had failed to submit the proposal within the stipulated timeline.SAI's funding guidelines require federations to submit proposals 30 days before a tournament, after the timeline was revised following requests from federations that earlier deadlines of 90 days and 60 days were difficult to meet. According to the official, the required proposal, including player names, was not received on time.Express also reported SAI saying that the funding for upcoming tournaments has been restored, but players will not be reimbursed for the expenses they incurred during the European campaign.Despite the difficulties, Indian players produced some notable results.

Sindhu reached the French Open final, where she lost to South Korea's An Se-young, while Chaliha registered a significant win over Yamaguchi. Anmol Kharb also made the semi-finals of the Hylo Open.The final week brought the biggest rewards.

Lakshya ended a year-long wait for a title by winning the men's singles crown in Germany, while Sindhu claimed her second title of the year. It was the first time since 2017 that she had won two BWF World Tour titles at Super 500 level or above in a calendar year.

The victory also improved her chances of qualifying for the World Tour Finals and helped her return to No. 6 in the world rankings.Sindhu said the funding uncertainty had not changed her approach to the tournaments."For me, the focus was on how I could improve my performance.

That was the most important thing at the end of the day. See, these things keep happening, but they shouldn't stop us."- Ends