National badminton returns to Bangalore

National champion Arvind Bhat

Six years after it last hosted the senior national championships, Bangalore will again play host to the best talent from across the country at the 67th Inter-State and 76th Senior National badminton championships at the K Raheja Stadium from January 17 to 25. The qualifying rounds of the open events will be played on January 17 and 18; the Inter-State (team event) on 19th and 20th, followed by the Senior Nationals (open event) from January 21 to 25.

The organisation of the 2006 Nationals was hailed as the best-ever. Incidentally, Bangalore, despite being a heartland of badminton in India, had hosted only one other nationals, back in 1962 when Ramesh Padukone — father of Prakash Padukone and the figurehead the game in South India — was the organising secretary. The event was held in a temporary structure near what is now MG Road. Prakash, then just seven years old, had accompanied his father to the event and was so impressed by seeing the reigning champion Suresh Goel, that he told his father he too wanted to become another Suresh Goel.

Padukone’s meteoric rise would see him play in the Indian team alongside Suresh Goel.

The first player to win the National Championship representing Karnataka (then Mysore) was Satish Bhatia. Bhatia, originally from Chandigarh, was a flight lieutenant in the Air Force and was posted in Bangalore in 1968 when he won the National Men’s Singles title representing Mysore. Bhatia was a leftie and had an unreturnable serve. In those days, it was allowed for the server to ‘spin’ the feathers (the practice is now banned).

In the late 1960s a great talent emerged from Karnataka — Prakash Padukone. He first won the Junior Nationals at the age of 15 and in the next year, at the age of 16, won both the junior and Senior National titles in Madras (now Chennai). He and his contemporaries P G Chengappa, Kiran Kaushik and Narendra Ubhayakar helped the state win the Inter State Championships in 1977 and 1978.After Prakash Padukone, the next player to win the national title from Karnataka was Vimal Kumar in 1989 and 1990. It took over a decade for the next Karnataka player to lift the trophy, which Anup Sridhar did in 2005 and 2006. He was followed soon after by Arvind Bhat, who won the title first in 2009 after four runner-up finishes. Arvind is the current national champion and will look to defend his crown in front of his home crowd.

There will be plenty of interest to see who the next champion will be. A few youngsters have emerged on the national scene, and experienced players such as Anup Sridhar and Arvind Bhat will have to be at their best if they have to emerge winners. Saurabh Verma, Sai Praneeth, P Kashyap, Guru Sai Dutt and others are in the reckoning, ensuring that this year’s nationals will be among the most competitive in history.

It remains to be seen, however, if all the top players will participate.