Prakash Padukone: An Ace Who Stops@Nothing

A former badminton player who hails from Karnataka, Prakash Padukone is a name everyone is familiar with, especially as he is one of the most famous badminton players in India. He has an exemplary record and has won several championships for the country, the most honored being the All England Championship where Prakash Padukone became the first Indian to achieve such a feat.

Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi have founded the Olympic Gold Quest – a foundation which has been built for promotion of sports in India. Prakash started playing the game at a young age when he was introduced to the game by his father who had served as the Secretary of Mysore Badminton Association. Prakash played his first official tournament at the Karnataka State Junior Championship in 1962 and inspite of losing the very first round he did not give up and two years later he won the state junior title.

His playing style graduated to a much more aggressive style in 1971 and he went on to win the national junior title the very next year. Not only that. He also managed to capture the senior title the same year, which is a mean feat by any standards. It’s amazing to note that Prakash went on to win the Indian national titles back-to-back for the next seven years until 1979. Prakash managed to win his first international title in 1978 when he won men’s singles gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. The very next year, he won the Evening of Champions at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He went on to win many other national and international titles as well.

Prakash Padukone retired in 1991 and after that he served as the chairman of the Badminton Association of India for some time. He also coached the Indian national badminton team in the years 1993 and 1996. Among other coveted honors, Prakash was the esteemed recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1972 and later on the Padma Shri in 1982.