Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is an Indian former

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the

Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

in 1972 and the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

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 Olympic sports are sports that are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2024 Summer Olympics included 32 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented at the Internation ...

in India.

Early life

Padukone was born on 10 June 1955 in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. 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

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 The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

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 The Swedish Open is a professional tennis tournament held in Båstad, Sweden. It is played on outdoor clay courts in July. The men's event (sponsored by Skistar) is an ATP Tour 250 tournament on the ATP Tour. The women's event (sponsored by ...

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 Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, and developed close friendships with European players such as

Morten Frost Morten Frost Hansen (born 4 April 1958) is a badminton player and later coach, who represented Denmark. As a player, he spent twelve years in the top three of the world rankings. After his retirement in 1991, he became director of performance for ...

Other services

After his retirement from competitive sports in 1991, Padukone served as the chairman of the

Badminton Association of India Badminton Association of India, is the governing body of badminton in India. The association, which was formed in 1934, is registered under the societies act. The body has been hosting annual Indian National Badminton Championships, national-l ...

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''

World Cup

''Men's singles''

World Games

''Men's singles''

Asian Championships

''Men's singles''

Commonwealth Games

''Men's singles''

International tournaments

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles''

Invitational tournaments

''Men's doubles''

References

External links

*
Authorised Biography

Video interview of Prakash Padukone talking about early days of badminton in India, the sport, his superstitions, badminton, IBL, sport films and Deepika Padukone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padukone, Prakash 1955 births Living people Indian male badminton players Konkani people Indian national badminton champions Indian badminton coaches Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Recipients of the Arjuna Award Racket sportspeople from Bengaluru World No. 1 badminton players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games gold medallists in badminton Badminton players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in badminton Asian Games bronze medalists for India Badminton players at the 1974 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1978 Asian Games Badminton players at the 1986 Asian Games Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games World Games medalists in badminton World Games bronze medalists Medalists at the 1981 World Games Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games World Games medalists for India