Guwahati, May 26: Dipankar Bhattacharjee, former number one and the most enduring face in the country’s badminton circuit during the intervening period between All-England champions Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand, has called it a day.

Dogged by injuries and a waning form since 1998, the ace shuttler from Assam has been contemplating retirement from competitive badminton for quite some time.

Dipankar, however, intends to remain associated with the game that has given him “fame and a decent job”. He wants to set up an academy, modelled on the BPL Badminton Academy run by his idol Padukone in Bangalore, for helping the players from the state as well as the region to train and compete with the very best in the country and abroad.

“I gave everything to return to the circuit, but destiny denied me a comeback. Though I tried everything from allopathic medicines to ayurveda to yoga, my injuries showed no signs of healing completely,” the Guwahat-based 32-year-old deputy manager (retail sales) with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said.

“Sometimes it pays to be pragmatic. Since life is all about moving ahead and since it will be difficult to remain away from the sport which I have pursued since the age of seven, I plan to start an academy initially with players from Assam and later from all over the Northeast. There will be 10 boys and six girls at the initial stage. I will use the courts belonging to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and directorate of sports on rent,” the three-time senior national champion and six-time finalist said.

According the draft of the “target-oriented” academy, the monthly budget is fixed at Rs 1 lakh and there will be full-time support staff and representatives from the administration, Assam Badminton Association, Assam Olympic Association and SAI.

Dipankar, who has not yet been considered for the Arjuna award despite his achievements, is scouting for a sponsor for his proposed academy. However, IOC remains his first choice.

“There will be nothing like having IOC as the sponsors. I also plan to rope in Prakash as visiting coach. I am still working on the draft. I will make a formal announcement as soon as all the loose ends are fixed,” Dipankar, who played his final senior nationals in Guwahati last year, said.

He has identified the staff who would be part of the management.

Dipankar said he was not satisfied with the standard of coaching in Assam. “A year-round training programme under a qualified coach is the need of the hour. My academy will try to fill up this void.”

Reminiscing the days when he annihilated any opponent and clinched everything on offer in the domestic circuit, the former champion ranked his match against Rajeev Bagga in the 1991 senior nationals as his best.

“I lost a very close encounter, but I relished every moment of it. It is very rare that a quarterfinal tie gets you a full house and matches on other courts abandoned. The icing on the cake… I was picked for the first time to represent India in a four-member team at the Asian badminton championship in Kuala Lumpur for my performance in that match.”

Dipankar admitted that getting sidelined by multiple injuries was tough, but he has few regrets.

“I gained in patience, acceptance of destiny. Everything is temporary and nothing lasts forever. More tangible gains are that I understand sports injuries much better now. I had the opportunity to visit so many doctors in India and abroad. I don’t say I am an expert, but I can surely guide a youngster to adopt safer training habits to prevent injuries.”

“I have done everything within my limits to get rid of my injuries. I even tried Ayurveda and homeopathy, but the intensity of my injuries was just too much.”

“Probably, I could have approached the government to fund my treatment abroad, but somehow I felt ignored and still feel the same. I visited some well-known orthopaedics in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Most of these doctors approach the injuries as orthopaedics rather than sports medicine doctors,” he said.

On how Dispur can help regarding sports medicine, the former champion said the government could encourage young doctors to pursue sports medicine and sponsor them for courses in Europe and America.