Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is an Indian former badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982 by the Government of India.[2] He is one of the co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India.

Prakash Padukone
Padukone at the Tata Open championship
Personal information
Birth namePrakash Ramesh Padukone
CountryIndia
Born (1955-06-10) 10 June 1955 (age 69)
Bengaluru, Mysore State (present-day Karnataka), India
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
HandednessRight
Men's singles
Highest ranking1[1] (1980)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  India
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Copenhagen Men's singles
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1981 Kuala Lumpur Men's singles
Bronze medal – third place 1980 Kyoto Men's singles
World Games
Bronze medal – third place 1981 Santa Clara Men's singles
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1978 Edmonton Men's singles
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 1974 Tehran Men's Team
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Seoul Men's Team
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 1983 Calcutta Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Hyderabad Men's singles
HonoursArjuna award (1972)
Padma Shri (1982)

Early life

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Padukone was born on 10 June 1955[3] in Bangalore in Karnataka. His father, Ramesh, was a secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association.[4]

Career

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Prakash was initiated into the game by his father Ramesh Padukone, who was the Secretary of Mysore Badminton Association for many years.

Padukone's first official tournament was the Karnataka state junior championship in 1962, which he lost in the very first round. However, two years later he managed to win the state junior title. He changed his playing style to a more aggressive one in 1971, and won the Indian national junior title in 1972. He also won the senior title the same year. He won the national title consecutively for the next seven years. In 1978, he won his first major international title, the men's singles gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.[5] In 1979, he won the "Evening of Champions" at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

In 1980, he won the Danish Open, the Swedish Open and became the first Indian to win the men's singles title at the All England Championship with a victory over Indonesia's Liem Swie King, who was one of the world's leading singles players of his era. Padukone spent much of his international career training in Denmark, and developed close friendships with European players such as Morten Frost.[6]

Other services

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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. He co-founded Olympic Gold Quest with Geet Sethi, a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India.[7]

Personal life

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Prakash Padukone with family

Padukone married Ujjala.[8] They have two daughters, Deepika and Anisha.[9][10]

Achievements

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World Championships

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1983 Brøndbyhallen, Copenhagen, Denmark   Icuk Sugiarto 15–9, 7–15, 1–15   Bronze

World Cup

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1980 Kyoto, Japan   Liem Swie King 12–15, 6–15   Bronze
1981 Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia   Han Jian 15–0, 18–16   Gold

World Games

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1981 San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States   Chen Changjie 14–18, 16–18   Bronze

Asian Championships

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1976 Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad,
India
  Liem Swie King 8–15, 3–15   Bronze

Commonwealth Games

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Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
1978 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada   Derek Talbot 15–9, 15–8   Gold

International tournaments

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Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
1979 India Open   Dhany Sartika 15–10, 11–15, 12–15   Runner-up
1979 English Masters   Morten Frost 15–4, 15–11   Winner
1980 Copenhagen Cup   Morten Frost 8-15, 15-10, 9-15   Runner-up
1980 Denmark Open   Morten Frost 15–7, 18–13   Winner
1980 All England   Liem Swie King 15–3, 15–10   Winner
1980 Swedish Open   Rudy Hartono 9–15, 15–12, 15–1   Winner
1981 Denmark Open   Morten Frost 7–15, 5–15   Runner-up
1981 All England   Liem Swie King 15–11, 4–15, 6–15   Runner-up
1981 English Masters   Luan Jin 9–15, 8–15   Runner-up
1981 India Open   Han Jian 9–15, 15–5, 15–12   Winner
1981 Scandinavian Open   Morten Frost 4–15, 11–15   Runner-up
1982 Dutch Open   Ray Stevens 5–15, 15–2, 15–2   Winner
1982 Denmark Open   Morten Frost 7–15, 8–15   Runner-up
1982 Scandinavian Open   Morten Frost 3–15, 4–15   Runner-up
1983 Chinese Taipei Open   Icuk Sugiarto 10–15, 8–15   Runner-up
1983 Japan Open   Han Jian 15–6, 8–15, 9–15   Runner-up
1983 Dutch Open   Morten Frost 11–15, 4–15   Runner-up
1983 Scandinavian Open   Morten Frost 17–18, 2–15   Runner-up
1983 India Open   Morten Frost 7–15, 13–15   Runner-up
1984 Thailand Open   Icuk Sugiarto 15–13, 5–15, 4–15   Runner-up
1985 Chinese Taipei Open   Lius Pongoh 15–5, 9–15, 10–15   Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
1981 Japan Open   Flemming Delfs   Christian Hadinata
  Lius Pongoh
4–15, 5–15   Runner-up
1988 U.S. Open   Liem Swie King   Christian Hadinata
  Lius Pongoh
15–7, 11–15, 13–15   Runner-up

Invitational tournaments

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Men's doubles

Year Tournament Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
1978 Asian Invitational Championships Capital Indoor Stadium
Peking, China
  Syed Modi   Lin Shiquan
  Tang Xianhu
3–15, 5–15   Silver

References

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  1. ^ "Prakash Padukone Profile". iloveindia. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Sportstar Aces Awards: Badminton legend Prakash Padukone wins Lifetime Achievement Award". 14 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Prakash Padukone Profile - Indian Badminton Player Prakash Padukone Biography - Information on Prakash Padukon". Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  4. ^ "An exciting tournament". The Hindu. 5 January 2006. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Shuttlers aim for gold in the upcoming Commonwealth Games, writes M. S. Unnikrishnan". The Tribune. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  6. ^ "PROFILE – Morten Frost". Badzine.net. 5 January 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  7. ^ "History | OGQ". Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  8. ^ "I don't have an issue marrying an actor: Deepika Padukone". The Times of India. 8 April 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  9. ^ "She's the model of success". The Star. South Africa. 4 August 2008. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2013 – via Highbeam.
  10. ^ Kaura, Neha (11 June 2012). "Deepika's link-ups don't bother us, says sister". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
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