Prakash Padukone

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

Early life Padukone was born on 10 June 1955 in Bangalore in Karnataka. His father, Ramesh, was a secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association.

Career 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. 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.

Other services 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.

Personal life

Padukone married Ujjala. They have two daughters, Deepika and Anisha.

Achievements World Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1983 Brøndbyhallen, Copenhagen, Denmark Icuk Sugiarto 15–9, 7–15, 1–15 Bronze Bronze

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

World Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1981 San Jose Civic Auditorium, California, United States Chen Changjie 14–18, 16–18 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1976 Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, India Liem Swie King 8–15, 3–15 Bronze Bronze

Commonwealth Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 1978 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Derek Talbot 15–9, 15–8 Gold Gold

International tournaments 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

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 Silver