Matchday AI, a company founded in 2019 by two Hyderabad-based techies, Harsha Vardhan and Ganesh Yaparla, is promising to change this.

Matchday AI has closely tied up with IIIT-Hyderabad, where they have developed a cutting-edge AI algorithm that can change the way sports is experienced. They have been working closely with Pullela Gopichand since its inception. The chief national badminton coach was blown away by the vision of the team, and hence joined the startup as a co-founder.

Pullela Gopichand is quite impressed by the new technology and is confident that it will play a big role in developing the overall standard of the game.

So impressed by the new technology, the 2001 All England champion has installed it at his Hyderabad-based Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy. He believes it will help the players and coaches monitor their progress.

Co-founder Harsha Vardhan said they have been receiving overwhelming responses from players and coaches alike. Several badminton academies in India have been using this technology.

“We are getting good responses from everyone. We have installed the system in several academies in India. We are also getting inquiries from other countries, especially European nations. They want to use the new technology to boost their badminton structure,” said Harsha Vardhan.

Explaining the method of operations, Harsha Vardhan said it is very simple and only one camera on the top of the badminton court does everything.

Installation and subscription of badminton players is affordable for everyone: Harsha Vardhan

Cameras have to be placed at a sufficient height on the court for good results. After installing at several academies, we take a monthly subscription from the players for their benefit.

“We are charging a nominal fee from the players. He or she has to pay a monthly subscription fee. It is quite affordable. Even in tournaments we have used this technology quite effectively. In the future, we are planning to use this technology in all the Badminton Association of India (BAI) tournaments after getting their approvals,” said Harsha Vardhan.

It gives an overview, game analytics and video analytics. It will tell you everything about the match like average rally length, match intensity, longest rally, total number of shots.

It also gives feedback on winning streaks, biggest comebacks and biggest leads. In the players’ stats, it tells you about the winners and errors. The minute details about a player’s performance in the match like straight shots, cross shots, attacking shots, defensive shots, short serve and long serve can be acquired.

Gopichand said more and more players are interested in using this product to analyze their game and subsequently improve their performance.

Players will also be able to compare themselves and compete with the rest of the badminton community. So a player playing in Hyderabad will be able to compare themselves with players playing in Delhi or even Denmark. Through this product we can truly make sports tech enabled and better suited to the needs of the mobile generation.

The competition in badminton is getting tougher day by day and use of technology is definitely an option for the overall development of the players.

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