5 best finishes by Indians at the All England Championships

Saina Nehwal reached the finals last yearThe 117th edition of the prestigious All England Badminton Championships gets underway in Birmingham from the 8th of March. The competition over the years has some terrific champions emerge and among them there have also been a few Indians who have risen to the occasion and made the country proud.Here’s a look at the 5 best individual performances by Indians at the tournament:

#5 Nandu Natekar( Quarterfinalist 1954)

The year was 1954 and Nandu Natekar was one of India’s three representatives in the Men’s Singles along with Trilok Nath Seth and Vikram Bhat. While the other two failed to make an impression, Natekar impressed one-and-all with his performance and reached the quarterfinals of the competition, where he succumbed to Hammegard of Denmark.

Sadly for Natekar, this was his only appearance at the competition and so, it didn't give an opportunity to better that performance of his in the coming years at the hallowed event.

#4 Prakash Nath( Runners-up 1947)

The year 1947, obviously holds an important place in Indian history, as it was this year that we became an independent nation. But it was also in 1947 that the nation achieved yet another staggering feat, courtesy Prakash Nath, who reached the finals of the All England Open, that was at the time being played at the Harringay Arena in London.

It wasn't the easiest of the tournaments due to the arrival of snow into the venue that made it very difficult for the players on court, but Nath battled his way through a series of opponents, even defeating home favourite Noel Radford to enter the finals, where he lost to Conny Jepson of Sweden.

#3 Saina Nehwal( Runners-up 2015)

Saina Nehwal will look to do one better this year

No Indian Women’s Singles player had ever reached the finals of the event until Saina Nehwal last year put in her best foot forward, falling only in the final hurdle to reigning World champion Carolina Marin.,

It was a superb performance from the Indian, who beat several of her nemesis that included the likes of Wang Yihan from China. The runners-up finish was significant from a personal point of view as well for Saina as that helped her gain a lot of points, which, eventually, benefited her the following month, when after yet another strong finish at her home event-the India Open Superseries- she became the first Indian women’s player to be ranked World No.1

Heading into this year’s competition, the Indian would certainly look to go that one step ahead and win her maiden title.

#2 Pullela Gopichand( Winner 2001)

Pullela Gopichand with the All England title

After Prakash Padukone’s triumph in 1980, India had a lot of wonderful moments in badminton, but none could scale the heights which the Master had attained that year, until Pullela Gopichand followed in his footsteps in 2001.

Gopichand went past various top contenders, including the then number one Peter Gade of Denmark in the semifinals, to meet China’s Chen Hong in the final, where in a superb display of calmness and fine strokeplay, he defeated the Chinese 15-12 15-6 to be crowned champion.

It was a sensational performance from Gopichand, who three years prior to that win, had clinched the bronze medal in the Men’s Singles at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

#1 Prakash Padukone( Winner 1980)

Prakash Padukone broke a stereotype in 1980

A country that was known mostly for its exploits on the hockey turf, Prakash Padukone gave several budding sportspersons, not just badminton aspirants, hope and belief when in 1980 he became the 1st Indian to win the prestigious All England Open.

He had had a good run in the lead-up to the event, winning the Danish Open and the Swedish Open and carried that form into the Wembley Arena in London, where in the final he defeated Liem Swie King of Indonesia 15-3 15-0 to clinch the title. En route to the final, the Indian also defeated Morten Frost in the semis.

It was one of the finest moments in sport and the stereotype that Indians couldn't triumph on the world stage was squashed forever.