How Pune’s 1st junior badminton tourney, started 40 yrs ago, went international

Sushant Chipalkkati was the country’s rising badminton star from Pune city. It was just a matter of time as he went from winning district to state to national championships. He even won a special prize at the hands of his idol, Prakash Paudone, when he was selected for the Prince Asian Tournament, in Hong Kong. But in 1996, the 16-year-old, while commuting in a Mumbai local from Andheri to Vile Parle for talks regarding sponsorship of his game, suffered an untimely death in an accident.

Today, around 280 young rising stars, just like Sushant, have gathered in Pune from 13 countries to play in a tournament named in his memory. The Yonex Sunrise India Junior International Grand Prix Badminton Tournament in the memory of Sushant is India’s only junior international tournament. Over the years, the tourney has seen participation from India’s leaders in the game like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and others. But the endeavor for it all started around 40 years ago by Laxmi Krida Mandir Club. The club was founded in 1982 by Girish Natu, SV Natu, and Vishwas Deshwandikar. On the advice of their mentor Dajisaheb Natu, the three of them began holding district-level tournaments for children aged 9, 12, 14, and 16 years.

CA Ranjeet Natu Hony, general Secretary, PDMBA, reflecting back on the tournaments at that time, said, “If you go back 40 years, during 1980s, badminton tournaments weren’t held for various age groups in children; under 18 and open were the only two categories. So that time even if there was a really good player aged 10 or 11 years, would have to compete with an 18-year-old only, which wasn’t fair.”

As noted in the book, ‘The Poona Game’, “Over the years, the championship turned into a state-level event. It even became the means for selecting junior players to represent the state. The tournament was renamed as Late Sushant Chipalkatti Memorial Badminton Championship in 1997 after Sushant’s untimely demise. Later, the championship turned into a national event.

In 2008-09, the PDMBA got an opportunity to host it as an Asian Satellite Tournament. The following year, the event became an international junior ranking tournament. At first, players from Nepal and Bangladesh participated in the event, but later, juniors from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore also started participating. The event, held over four days, attracts about 250 players.”

It has found a place in the BWF calendar. The Laxmi Krida Mandir Club handed over the organisation of this tournament to PDMBA in 2020.

This year, participants from India, USA, UAE, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Malaysia, Switzerland, England, TPE, Iran will compete at the tournament being held at the PE Society’s Modern PDMBA Sports Complex, Shivajinagar, from August 27 to September 1.

The tourney features competitions in Under-19 boys and girls singles and doubles categories, mixed doubles categories. As a part of Badminton World Federation (BWF) circuit, it offers participants an opportunity to earn ranking points and gain international experience.