Padukone is widely regarded by the Indian sports fraternity as the shuttler, who helped India make its first major impressions on the world badminton circuit courtesy his stellar exploits at the All England Championships, besides earning laurels for the nation by winning medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
On his 65th birthday, we go back into time and rewind some glittering moments of Prakash Padukone's stellar career
In a nation which is obsessed by cricket and where cricketers are considered no less than demi gods, India has a come a long way with the nation making major headwinds with some noteworthy performances in other Olympic Sports too.. One of the sports which has seen India make rapid strides in the last decade and rubbing horns against the big guns like China, Korea and Japan, has been badminton.
While the current generation idolizes, follows and admires the modern era stalwarts in Sania Nehwal,PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, P Kashyap to name a few.. for their stupendous achievements in making India a formidable force.. one has to go four decades back into time in the 70s, when a tall and lanky shutter changed the usual norm by challenging the hegemony of the Indonesians, Danish and Chinese at the very top in the racquet sport. It was none other than Prakash Padukone, who undoubtedly etched his name as India's first major badminton superstar.
Hegemony at the domestic level in the 70s with a record seven straight national titles
The handsome looking shuttler dominated the national badminton landscape by winning the national title for a record seven straight years . He was undoubtedly the domestic giant of Indian badminton in the 70s , standing unrivaled for almost a decade.
Padukone then spearhead India's challenge at the world stage by locking horns against the best shuttlers in the 70s and early 80s, notable among his rivals being Liem Swie King , Rudy Hartono, Morten Frost and Jin Luan.
Padukone Scripts History By Becoming First Indian To Win All England Badminton Title In 1980
Padukone put India on the world badminton map when he won the All England Championship in 1980, beating Indonesia's legendary shuttler Liem Swie King in a one sided finals. It was a historic first as Padukone became the first ever Indian shuttler to lay his hands on the coveted trophy.
Padukone went onto attain more international success as he won the Denmark Super Series event in 1979 and clinched the gold medal at World Cup in 1981. Padukone scripted history once again when he became the first Indian shuttler to medal at the 1983 World Championships, clinching a bronze in the men's singles event.
Won Laurels For India By Medalling at Asian and Commonwealth Games
It was not just about professional accolades as Padukone brought more laurels to the nation by winning Gold at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He also was part of a strong Indian team which clinched bronze medals at the team events in the 1974 and 1986 Asian Games.
Padukone was consistently ranked among the top four men’s singles players in an era which had some of the all time greats of men's badminton in Leim Swie King, Morten Frost and Rudy Harnato competing at the peaks of their prowess.
Prakash Padukone's stellar success became the benchmark for great shuttlers like Syed Modi, Pullela Gopichand, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Aparna Popat, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to emulate and they raised the bar by going onto become the harbingers of Indian badminton in the decades which followed.
After his retirement from competitive sports in 1991, Padukone served as the chairman of the Badminton Association of India for a short while. He also served as the coach of the Indian national badminton team from 1993 to 1996.
After bidding farewell to the sport in what could be summed up as a glittering career, Padukone launched his own badminton academy in Bengaluru to coach and mentor young and aspiring badminton aspirants and fine tune their skills to shape their careers.