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For sports goods chain owner, badminton pips cricket, football

So when Niteen Shah, owner of Total Sports, a sports and fitness chain, says that more people are taking up badminton than cricket or football, one has to believe it.

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Over the past few years, interest in badminton in India has seen a tremendous rise. And, with seven players having qualified for the upcoming Rio Olympics, chances of a medal from the sport are at an all-time high.

So when Niteen Shah, owner of Total Sports, a sports and fitness chain, says that more people are taking up badminton than cricket or football, one has to believe it. After all, the 53-year-old has been in the business for the past 13 years, growing from owning a small shop in Dadar to seven big stores in Mumbai and one in Pune.

"Badminton is sport where you don't need a ground to play. People play it in their building compound or their colony. You just need a racquet and a shuttlecock. And especially after the accolades earned by Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, the need for badminton goods is at an all-time high," Shah said.

With a myriad of sports leagues in the country, Shah believes the business of sports goods has boomed.

"The whole business of sports and sports goods has changed in the past 10 years. Earlier it was only cricket. Now, people are playing all sports. Not just that, people aren't hesitant to buy sport-specific brands, and don't mind spending for quality," he says.

So what made Shah passionate about sports retail, apart from the fact that his family was running an 80-year-old store in Dadar?

"I have always loved sports. When I was in young, I played all sports be it table tennis, cricket, cycling or carrom among others. But I always had a problem getting everything I needed to play a sport at one place. For shoes you had to go somewhere, for clothes another place. Then for sports good someplace else. That's when I decided that I need to open a shop where one can come and buy everything. From the day I opened the shop, I knew it was a gold mine," he said.

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