The story of Indian badminton from Padukone to Lakshya

Pride is a key for a nation and sporting success adds to it. The Thomas Cup win cemented India as a badminton nation, writes Sandeep Menon

Lakshya Sen

PV Sindhu

Saina Nehwal

History has a strange way of making cliff notes and highlights, making a series of events seem linear, sequential and compressed. One domino after another falls into place as the story unfolds. A great tragedy in Indian sport — save for cricket — is the lack of documentation. The stories are told and retold by those who lived them, memoirs made from memories. The same is true as one tracks back through the history of Indian badminton.

It's a sport, perhaps second only to cricket in the country now in terms of popularity and achievements. Played recreationally by a large portion of the population, the sport is familiar, competitions and youth system are robust and India is now among the top badminton nations in the world.

It was not always so. The cliff notes for the rise of badminton in India are easy to rattle off — Prakash Padukone's All England Championship win, Pullela Gopichand's All England win, Saina Nehwal's rise, PV Sindhu's dominance, Thomas Cup win.

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Boom! There is your Indian badminton story, 40-odd years succinctly put together.

The story though, as told by those who lived the sports' evolution, is a lot more convoluted with ups and downs, missed chances and administrative apathy — at least in the beginning.

Yes, there are the highlights, the box tickers. But as one tries to fill the gaps, it makes for an interesting journey.

Let's not go back in history to the origins of badminton (did you know a game similar to badminton was 2000 years ago?) or how old the Badminton Association of India is (est. 1899?). If there are records, it is kept secured to the point of being hidden.

Nevertheless, the story of badminton, at least the modern history, has a clear demarcating line — pre-1980 and post-1980. The year Padukone won the All England Championships.

The first spark

"Prakash sir reminds us of badminton, badminton reminds us of Prakash sir," says Gopichand.

Padukone's victory at the All England is a definitive moment in Indian badminton.

"For all practical purposes, had he not won the All England, although we had greats even then, it was such a special event. Because he won the All England, we also thought we can win, an Indian can win. Otherwise, All England would have never come under our radar. It remains the biggest point for Badminton in the country," Gopichand says.

The victory has achieved a status of mythical proportions — as it should.

"I would say that was the turning point for Indian badminton, till then it was a minor sport," Padukone agrees. "Not many tournaments, prize money, media attention, sponsorships... My victory turned all that and it became a major sport. I didn't expect that it would have this impact..."

Padukone trails off with a small smile. Few have left a mark as big as his in their craft. As impactful as it became, Padukone's challenges to get there were massive. As the story goes, he used to train — among other places — in Canara Union and Malleswaram Association, famed for its table tennis, in the marriage hall on cement floors. A kindness for which he would later repay by raising funds and helping build new courts. There was little to no support.

"I was the number 1 junior and I used to practice with Prakash," says U Vimal Kumar, a former player and a Dronacharya awardee coach. "He used to finish his Union Bank job and come around 6. We would all wait because there was only one court. He would warm up and practice and we would get to play around 8.30-9 pm. Then he went on to win All England. Winning then, the game got visibility. But the association did not capitalise on it. Prakash went to Denmark to play as a professional and he was doing well but there was no reporting as such. Him leaving India, again badminton got neglected," Vimal recounts.

What followed was a lull in the sport. Yes, some players did creditable performances but there was no big trophy.

Such was the situation of badminton in the country that Padukone once again took matters into his own hands. What followed was a series of small wins.

"In 1994, Prakash starting the academy was big," says Vimal. "Prakash introduced Rs 4 lakh prize money tournaments in the country that BPL sponsored and Aparna Popat got pushed to the international level. Gopi trained here. We fought for him in 1997, we revolted against the badminton association. Prakash formed the Indian Badminton Confederation and I formed the Indian Players Association — because they were not sending entries. Then the association said players can play and such things..."

The 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia was key. The host country being a strong badminton nation, their competition had both men's and women's team tournaments instead of a mixed team event.

"In the 1998 CWG, we did well with women and men getting medals (men won silver, women with bronze). Individually, Gopi got a bronze and Aparna a silver," says Vimal.

Three years later, 21 years after Prakash's feat, another Indian stood on the pinnacle of world badminton when Gopichand won the All England Championships. Gopichand, who did not have enough shuttles to train with weeks before the tournament, had captured the world.

"After Prakash sir, the level of badminton dropped down. So for me coming up, it was tough. My win, related a lot to people. I was training here when I won so maybe that inspired people as well," Gopi says.

What also helped the Indians, according to Vimal, is the change in the scoring system in the mid-2000s which saw it shift to a rally point system regardless of who served. Badminton, previously, had a scoring system where points were won only on serve. The rule change suited Indians, who had the deft touches and speed to take advantage of it. No longer was badminton an endurance sport, it favoured the more dynamic players. Over the years, endurance has evolved back into the sport, but it remains dynamic and fast-paced.

The women's revolution

Gopi hoped that his win inspires the next generation and inspire it did. Most notably a young girl from Haryana, who had a family pre-disposed towards the sport. The name Saina Nehwal may have taken a backseat these days with the new generation breaking newer glass ceilings but it was she who shouldered the hopes and dreams of Indian badminton in the late 2000s and into the next decade.

"Saina's Olympic bronze in 2012 was very important, even for me to be established as a coach," says Gopichand. "Not only 2012 but 2008 also was critical because she started to perform and we could see glimpses of what could happen. People around watched that happen because when you play in a multisport event, the country watches. That's when the country realised that there is talent here who could start winning."

The 2010 Commonwealth Games coming to India was a godsend for badminton as the funding increased as the country tried to ensure a strong performance as a host. Saina delivered with a gold medal.

"The 2010 CWG, Saina winning gold set the trend. She made a huge impact on the sport. It was Saina vs China at one point during that time," says Vimal.

Adding to that was Jawala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa winning the women's doubles. There was a bronze in men's singles for Parupalli Kashyap.

"Ashwini and Jwala winning was very special. Our strength was always in singles but Ashwini and Jwala changed that. Men's double, we had never won it till (Satwik and Chirag did) now," says Vimal.

What followed was a trend of results as, one by one, Kashyap, Gurusai Dutt, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and others started making a name.

"I think each of those events was special and important. After that, we started winning medals at every World Championships, won at CWG and doubles did well. Overall, badminton was starting to look up. Every year it went better in some sense," says Gopichand.

"In 1994, the Government didn't clear badminton for CWG saying 'you are not good to be in top six of CWG'. So we have made some good strides. And Sindhu came by..."

Ah yes, Sindhu came by. A colossus in Indian sport who has a rightful claim to be called the greatest sportsperson of the modern era. Two Olympic medals (bronze and silver), World Championship gold, World number 1, Commonwealth Games champion... her accolades keep piling up.

"Rio (Olympics silver) was a big thing because India didn't win many medals and her medal stood out. It was an inspiration. Srikanth did well and became the world no 1. These things never let the sport die and there was always a positive result. Satwik (sairaj Rankireddy) and Chirag (Shetty) started to perform..." Gopi reels off the story.

The latest sensation is Lakshya Sen, already a World Championship bronze medallist, All England finalist and a Commonwealth Games Champion before the age of 21.

Team success at last

While India was becoming a stalwart in world badminton, team trophies remained elusive. The Thomas and Uber Cup, is in many ways the World Cup of badminton. Winning it is special for it's not about one individual or a doubles team doing well, it is about a whole team coming together and rising as one. A task that is hard to achieve.

For a country obsessed with team sports, the 2022 Thomas Cup win is another major point for the sport. One that Vimal, who was the coach of the team, knows only too well.

"In 1981, China came into the scene," Vimal breaks into a story. "We went to China to play Thomas Cup. Those times there were nine matches — five singles and four doubles. Prakash was number 1 in the world and when they came to the scene, he beat a lot of their players. So what they thought at that stage was India had that level. So they fielded their best team. Prakash was number 1, Syed Modi was number 2 and I was to play number 3 singles. Prakash was injured so he couldn't come. We went there, no one knew much about China. I was a teenager and I was thrashed there. I never played such fast rallies — 15-3, 15-1. Syed Modi got 15-3, 15-0. Modi came out and started making fun of me saying you didn't give me time to warm up," he laughs.

"I was very miserable. All our points in singles added up, but did not reach 15. 9-0. It is still in my memory. I felt so much satisfaction, 40 years later, when we could beat all these guys and won the Thomas Cup."

For the badminton world, this victory is huge.

"If I were to ask anyone what happened in the last Thomas cup, they won't know. But if you ask this to a person in Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand they will keep track of it on par or even more than an All England," says Gopichand.

"It's huge in the badminton world. Every time we would go and they say India is a good team but unless you win the team event, India can't be called a really strong nation. We would get these comments from coaches and commentators. It's an important box to tick off. Hopefully, we can do it more often."

Sport is a part of society. Pride is a key for a nation and sporting success adds to it. The Thomas Cup win cemented India as a badminton nation.

Over the years, the success on the court has translated into badminton finding private funding and foundations ready to help. Sponsors and corporates have also joined in, not to mention the government's help through various schemes. Badminton academies also sprouted up as the game exploded across the country, giving that proverbial last-mile connectivity to development.

"There is a career in badminton, especially if you do well. There is publicity and financial support. All over the country, there is infrastructure — even in tier 2 and 3 cities," says Padukone.

Sitting on the sidelines of his academy, looking around at people taking photos with Lakshya Sen, fresh from his Commonwealth Games victory, Padukone adds with a smile. "I didn't expect it would have this impact," he says.