Legendary Indian shuttler, Prakash Padukone, has hailed the ongoing period as ‘the golden period of Indian Badminton,’ and has said that the ace shuttler Saina Nehwal’s achievements over the past few years have made other players believe that if she can succeed, they can do it too.
“Saina becoming the World No. 1 has in a way convinced the other Indian players that if she can do it, they can too. She has given them belief,” said Padukone.
In an exclusive interview to the Hindu, Padukone talked at length about India’s prospects at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the achievements of the players this year, and the areas of improvement. He was speaking at the launch of the Tata Open International Challenge, at the Cricket Club of India, Mumbai.
India at the Rio
On India’s chances at the Olympics, especially on how India’s numero uno female shuttler should prepare for it, Padukone mentioned that keeping oneself fresh and injury-free in the months leading up to the tournament should be crucial for every player.
“The key will be to remain injury-free leading up to the Olympics, and also try to reach their peak during that week. How they do it is between the player and coach.”
“It should not be a case of playing too much or too less.”
He mentioned that players have to decide which tournaments they are going to play next year, and make sure that they peak in their performances in the lead-up to the tournament. He gave the example of the World No. 1 Carolina Marin of Spain, by mentioning that she peaked at the right time for the All England Championships and the World Championships, and that Saina shoud try to do that.
The former world no. 1 also mentioned that the Olympics is all about handling pressure, and said that Saina should be able to cope with the pressure during that week. Mental strength, said Padukone, is more important than being a good or a bad player, or say, being in a good or a bad shape.
Whoever is self-sufficient when it comes to dealing with this should succeed, he opined, while also mentioning that Saina must not think of the games as a once-in-four-years opportunity.
Rather, she should take it as yet another tournament, and not think too much of it being the Olympics, and the aim being to win a medal, said the legend.
When asked about the athletes in the other events, he said that all of them had chances to secure a medal, but that it was difficult to predict. He reiterated his recommendation of reaching the peak of one’s performances before the Olympic week.
The games begin in August next year, and before that, there is the All England Open Championship, which Padukone believes to be equivalent to the Wimbledon in Tennis. He talked about the charm that the tournament brings and illustrated how every badminton player dreams of winning that championship at least once.
He himself had won the prestigious event back in 1980, the same year that he gained the world no. 1 ranking. He had also won the Gold in the Commonwealth Games of 1979, and went on to win the World Championships in 1981.
However, on being asked which event should the players prefer, given that both, the All England and the Olympics have a gap of four months between them, he favoured the Olympics.
Indian performances in 2015
In what has been a dream year for Indian badminton so far, with Saina, and her fellow compatriot PV Sindhu leading the way, along with few excpetional talents in the male category namely, K Srikanth and P Kashyap, Padukone said that historically there has never been such a time in Indian badminton.
He gave examples of former legends such as Nandu Natekar, Suresh Goel, Syed Modi, and Pullela Gopichand, and said that formerly, there used to be just one player who was at the top at a particular point of time.
Since the Commonweath Games 2010, he said further, there has been a plethora of players at the top-level, which is a testimony to the game’s growth and popularity among the youth of the country. He said that the trend must continue and for that, the players will have to work very hard.
He also threw light on the opportunitites that talented sportspersons have, given that there are various foundations and government schemes ready to offer help. The onus is now upon the athletes, he said, and if they are talented, support is bound to come in some form or the other.
“There is enough support these days for talented sportspersons practising an Olympic sport. There are various foundations and government schemes offering help. It’s not like what it used to be 10 years ago. So, there is lot of sponsorship support available.”
“It’s up to the players to work hard now. There are platforms for them to excel.”
“If someone is talented, support is always bound to come. I hope the players realise this, stay focused, sincere and show a lot of patience,” he said.
Padukone himself, has been the knight in shining armour for the badminton aspirants with his Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, that has been in existence for the past 21 years.
He, along with Gopichand, who started the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad, have been working with the budding talents and have been providing them with the right guidance and facilities to excel at the international level.
He was never short of praises for Saina, as he credited her for instilling the confidence amongst Indian youth tat they can for sure excel at the global stage, drawing inspiration from whatever Saina has achieved.
He also lauded her new coach, Vimal Kumar, and said that her game has improved considerably since she started training with Vimal in Bengaluru.
Saina became the World No. 1 women’s badminton player earlier this year. She is currently ranked no. 2 behind Spain’s Marin.
The way ahead and the areas of improvement
On the future prospects and areas of improvement, Padukone seemed content with what the players had achieved, but alos felt that consistency is the key. The Indian shuttlers have been doing well initially in one or two tournaments before crashing out in the first round of the nex few.
Although the veteran believes that it isn’t possible to win every tournament, as the likes of Lin Dan or Chen Long themsleves haven’t been able to, but consistency is crucial for every player.
Players should be capable to lift their performances, improve their rankings and stay there for a longer period of time, he believed, and said that Saina and Sindhu have proved it- Sindu is currently ranked no. 12 in the world.
“There are a lot of youngsters, but I don’t see the same level of potential in them as Saina and Sindhu.”
“They don’t lack in technique; it’s more on the physical side of it. Sindhu has the height and is physically strong. So, young girls have to work on their fitness and stamina.”
“If they can do this, there are better chances of them succeeding at the highest level,” said Padukone.
On the junior players like Siril Verma, Chirag Sen and Shivani Gadde, Padukone said that despte their rankings being good, they haven’t played many games. Hence, the rankings don’t do proper justice to their talent.
He focussed on the fact that it would be a big step for them to move from the junior to the senior arena at the age of 18 or 19, and that hey would have to start afresh.
Many of the cream badminton players have been absent this year from the Premier Badminton League, and Padukone attributes it to the frequent and multiple cancellations of the event, combined with 2016 being the Olympic year.
The best players plan their schedule well in advance, and make sure which tournaments they would be playing in, in order to keep themsleves fresh for the big games. Consequently, the confusion regarding the organization of the event as a taken a toll on the pool of talent that is participating in it.
Despite being the forerunner of one of the best Badminton Academies in the country, he believes that just two premier academies is way too less for a country like India. He said that he talked to the Tata Group an discussed upon the need to have academies in each state.
He mentioned it as the onus of the State and the National federations to do this, and not just of the private industry. He laid stress on identifying the right people- in terms of good coaches- and called on the federations to provide them and their disciples with the framework for running an academy.
