SPORTS

Biography of Prakash Padukone

Prakash Padukone was born on 10 June 1955 in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Prakash Padukone grew up during India’s lack of interest in badminton. In fact, South India is very fond of a game called badminton, which is similar to volleyball.

However, Prakash Padukone was introduced to ‘shuttle badminton’ – as they call it – by his father Ramesh, who played the game as a hobby with his friends and later became a part of head of the first state team for badminton.

He designs the earth separating earth in 1980; The same year he became the first Indian to overcome all the Badminton to be open. Prakash Padukone was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982 by the Government of India.

Prakash Padukone was introduced to the game of badminton by his father Ramesh Padukone who was the secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association for many years.

Padukone’s first tournament was the Karnataka State Junior Championship in 1962. Known as the “Gentle Tiger” on the court, her achievements in the world of badminton were impressive. He won his first National Men’s Singles at the Indian Nationals when he was just 16 years old (he also won the Junior title at the Nationals) and won it 9 years in a row from 1971 to 1979.

1980 was his best year when he defeated the top European players to win the Danish Open and the Swedish Open. Ranked third in the All-England, he defeated Morten Frost in the semi-finals and Liem Swie King in the final in straight games, becoming the first Indian to achieve the feat.

After retiring from competitive play in 1991, Prakash Padukone served as the president of the Indian Badminton Association for a brief period. In addition, he coached the Indian national badminton team from 1993 to 1996. He also co-founded Olympic Gold Quest with Geet Sethi, a foundation dedicated to promoting Olympic sports in India.

Career of Prakash Padukone

Prakash Padukone won the National Junior Award in 1964, and from there his career went from strength to strength. His style of play developed over the years and he won the senior national championship in 1971. At 16, he became the youngest player to achieve this feat.

In the years that followed, he won each successive national championship until 1979, setting a record nine consecutive national titles. Already a national star in the late 1970s, he won his first international title in 1978 when he won the men’s singles gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.

He established himself as one of the most competitive international badminton players and dominated the top European players in the 1980s to win both the Danish Open and the Swedish Open. His career highlight also came in 1980.

He won the All England singles title against Indonesian champion Liem Swie King, becoming the first Indian to do so. The victory catapulted Padukone to the No. 1 ranking in badminton, making her the first Indian to achieve this status.

His success continued throughout the 1980s. He won Alba’s first international tournament in October 1981 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and won India’s first prize money tournament, the Indian Masters (now the India Open), in Pune, the same year. In 1982, he won the Dutch Open and the Hong Kong Open.

After a distinguished playing career, he retired as a player in 1991. After his retirement, he served as the president of the Indian Badminton Association for a brief period. He coached the Indian national badminton team from 1993 to 1996.

Being interested in the game, he decided to create his own management company. In the early 1990s, badminton was not a popular sport and it was not easy to get sponsors. He was happy when BPL recognized the potential of the upcoming business and gave him its support.

Along with fellow Indian badminton stalwarts, Vimal Kumar and Vivek Kumar, Padukone started the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) in October 1994. The academy provides world-class training and coaching for young players who are selected and Merit School. Since its inception, it has produced many champions at national and international levels.

In 2001, Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi, a professional English billiards player, co-founded Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for the promotion of the sport in India.

Accomplishment

Bronze at the 1983 IBF Men’s Singles World Championship held in Copenhagen
Won the gold medal in the men’s singles at the 1981 Badminton World Cup held in Kuala Lumpur.
Bronze medal in men’s athletics at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara
Winning the men’s singles event of the England Open badminton tournament held in London in 1980
Won the gold medal in the men’s singles event at the Commonwealth Games, held in Edmonton in 1978