It is rare to see a selfless person as Prakash Padukone. A sporting legend who changed the face of Indian sport by winning the All England Badminton men's singles title in 1980 and becoming the first Indian to do so, the 61-year-old sought out for upcoming teenaged shuttler Lakshya Sen in the small gathering at the Cooch Behar room of the Cricket Club of India on Tuesday.
Out of respect for the sporting icon, Sen, the Uttarakhand shuttler who trains at Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, bowed down to touch Padukone's feet and seek his blessings. Padukone, on his part, enquired about Sen's last week's triumph in the India International Series in Hyderabad.
Padukone's simplicity does not end there. Always sporting a smile and staying down-to-earth, he called his 1980 All England triumph as "a watershed in Indian badminton".
"More than me winning the All England badminton title, the contribution it has made for Indian badminton makes it more satisfying," Padukone said here on Tuesday on the eve of the ninth Tata Open India International Challenge.
Padukone knows what it is to win a major tournament. But, he was still curious what Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain does to win major tournaments.
He said: "Carolina upped her game (in the final against PV Sindhu). She prepares well for the big events. In the last two years, she has won two World Championships titles, an All England title and the Olympics. It will be interesting to see what she does.
"There must be something she must be doing special as regards the match preparations. There is a science behind it, when to peak at the right time, the right kind of training and diet, all the behind-the-scenes activities must be right When I meet her coach, I will ask what she does to win big tournaments," a curious Padukone said.
Speaking of the women's singles final of August 19, 2016 in which the Indian finished with a historic silver, Padukone said: "At that stage (after Sindhu won first game 21-19), it was extremely difficult to predict the winner. So many things happen. You have to be mentally good, physically good, psychologically strong. I felt that Sindhu, even though she has won two World Championships bronze medals, no one expected her to play in the Olympics final. More than the physical and technical aspects, it was the pressure that Sindhu was not able to handle, and that is normal," he said.
About Tata Open India International Challenge 2016:
* Pratul Joshi and Rutvika Shivani Gadde are top seeds in men's and women's singles, respectively
* Prize money up from $15,000 to $17,500
* Matches will be best of five games of 11 points each
* Besides India, shuttlers from Malaysia, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and England will be in action
* Finals on December 4
* Venue: Cricket Club of India badminton courts
