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Journalism of Courage
Busy training young players,Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand are regarded as the architects of Indias badminton revival.
Shivani Naik traces the post-retirement contribution of the countrys two All-England champions
Its about what he really stands for honesty and leading your life simply and humbly
Mumbais pace and chaos can be unsettling,but Prakash Padukone doesnt give the impression of being rushed. Even while trainees senior players who come and shake his hand,rookies who touch his feet,and old-timers such as Aparna Popat who pick up threads of an old conversation seamlessly huddle around him, and fans adjust their phone cameras as they ask for takes and re-takes.
I try to accommodate everyone and see things from their perspective, Padukone says,when hes done with a throng of fans outside the Cricket Club of India CCI,where the Tata Open badminton championships started on Friday. What if I had sought out my idol and he declined me an autograph? God gave me a special talent due to which I could achieve so much in life. But that doesnt give me the authority to be arrogant.
Post his All-England title in 1980,Padukone became an Indian shuttle legend who couldve rested on his laurels,and clapped his acknowledgement of upcoming players from a distance. But he chose the back-room,and sometimes thankless job of organising tournaments and training youngsters at his academy in Bangalore.
Ive always been a learner and keen observer,and a little more analytical about what I see. I was fascinated by how the All-England was organised,and I watched keenly how Malaysia and Indonesia conducted events,and then tried to incorporate the best,learning from experience to improve every year, he says.
Indias sparse badminton success in the 1980s was threatening to ring hollow echoes back home,as a junior domestic structure was non-existent. In 1997,Padukone led a rival group against the Badminton Association of India BAI,and the compromise gave him the post of the bodys executive president. Today,India owes most of its junior-level events to Padukone.
The toughest part of organising a tournament is coordinating between the various agencies involved host associations,sponsors,spectators and the press and before all that,convincing top players to participate. Everyones not on the same wavelength and you cant have your way all the time, he says.
As a player,you dont worry about anything but yourself. Everythings in your control,and theres no tension,if there is,Ive created it myself. As a coach,Im still dependent on my trainees to perform,so thats not easy either. He even jokes that winning the All-England seems easier now.
Padukones foray into coaching in 1994 was,what he calls,an emotional investment. Its a little disappointing when our players do badly,and when the top ones leave the academy and go. It hurt a lot when it happened the first time. But you learn and understand that whatever you could contribute to their growth,you did. After that its their choice. We want them to do well,and weve played a part.
Aparna Popats march into the world juniors final just two years after his academy had taken off ranks as a proud moment for Padukone,now 54. When Gopi came to us,he was not even the national champion,and then to watch him grow was satisfactory. Though he wasnt with us when he won the All- England,wed he includes coaches Vimal Kumar and Vivek Kumar still played a part. In recent years,Anup Sridhar beat Taufik Hidayat at the world championships.
The bunch charging ahead currently,breaking new ground for India at the world stage because of their sheer numbers,has several from the Padukone academy Aravind Bhat,Anup Sridhar,Aditi Mutatkar,Anand Pawar,besides colts waiting in the wings,Ajay Jayram,Gayatri Vartak and Sayali Gokhale.
I realised being just technically sound wasnt enough. There are so many other things motivating players,disciplining them. All of them need careful handling,and its different for different age groups, he says. One such instance was of a nine-year-old who stumped him with this poser,asked with audacity and innocence: Are you really the All-England champion?
Do you think I am? Padukone replied with a smile. Actually,I won it only once. Now do you still want that autograph?
Indias number two woman player,Mutatkar,says its difficult not to be influenced by Padukone. Its about what he really stands for honesty and leading your life simply and humbly.
Termed too mild to be assertive sometimes,Padukone left his BAI post in 2000,disillusioned with the system. But he continued working in the academy and kept organising tournaments,and also became a part of Olympic Gold Quest,a foundation he started with former billiards world champion Geet Sethi.
I feel a little tired now. Maybe another two years,and then Id like to hand over the reins to others and give some time to family. Maybe after the Commonwealth Games, Padukone says about his active involvement in badminton. Work is hands-on now,but I want to slowly get off the day-to-day working. I might remain in-charge,but I want to come on the final day and just sit and watch.
He realised we were scared since he spoke so little,so he started talking more
There was something far more crucial than the coaching basic of two lateral steps front,two strides back that P Gopichand had to get accustomed to when he floated his academy for budding shuttlers in Hyderabad. In fact,he had to unlearn certain things he had picked up as a player,to accommodate the questions springing in the excited minds of his trainees. He even played the way girls do more drops and tosses from across the net in practice,just so I could understand, laughs Saina Nehwal,the world number six player and Gopis most famous student.
Since he spoke so little initially,when his first batch of trainees P Kashyap and Guru Sai Dutt besides Nehwal lined up at the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium,they would try drawing him into telling them anecdotes from his overseas exploits. It was after much persuasion that the former All-England champ spoke of his Birmingham triumph.
Gopi maintains that the 2001 win defined his career for life irrespective of what would happen after it. But it didnt stop him from returning to the daily grind once his knee looked to have given away,and to go back to endless practice sessions. He can get down to our level and explain things to us, says Kashyap,ranked 31 in the world and Indias bright hope for the coming years,who has trained under Gopichand since 2005.
Someone like Guru Sai Dutt started as a star-struck kid when he won a summer-camp tournament in 2002 in which he was given the prize by Gopi returning from his All-England triumph. When he was winding down on his playing career,hed sometimes train us and give tips instantly. Then later,when he started the academy,we spent more time with him. But we were still scared. He realised since he spoke so little we were more fearful,so he started talking more, says the 20-year-old Dutt,pleased about making a talker out of a silent man.
Though Gopichands strict on-court demeanour still startles Dutt,Indias most promising rookie from last season,he relishes the only discordant advice that comes his way at the academy. For everyone else,he sets strict diet-chart targets. But since Ive been underweight all my life,he keeps urging me to eat and keep eating all the time. Dutt says Gopi has a big part to play in making him mentally strong,after he was repeatedly told by others that he didnt have the physique to play in the big league.
A brave retriever whose commitment on court sees him diving around for shuttles endlessly now,it took many sessions of confidence-building to convince Dutt of his potential.
Nehwal may be plotting her assault on the next All-England now,and fine-tuning strategies to beat Chinese opponents,but she too struck an equation with Gopichand as he encouraged her to speak up. He was a great player,and Id find it odd to ask him about small problems. But slowly he spoke to all of us,and made us comfortable about approaching him for minor questions on technique. But most importantly,he tells us dont worry about winning or losing; if you work hard and stay disciplined,youll be fine.
The national coach is also known to bring home the latest coaching methods from his travels. Not quite unanimously adored when he brought the regimented Chinese way of training long training camps and stress on physical conditioning he stuck to his stance nevertheless,and can now delight in his players recent success.
When he refused to let me travel last year,I didnt understand and was a little miffed. I skipped the All-England and trained. But when I did well at the Asian Badminton Championship this year,I knew he was right, says the 22-year-old Kashyap.
Gopichand is known to get really emotional while yelling at a ward when they repeat mistakes,or when they turn lazy. But on the court,hes calm and balanced, says Dutt. The way he pre-thinks strategy,its almost magical when the opponent does exactly what he has predicted and were ready with our shot.
