Badminton 45 and Bombay Gymkhana played a perfect host and largely relived post independent India's rich badminton history at the gymkhana's lawns on Saturday.
All icons, Nandu Natekar, Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal called the assembly of champions a wonderful day in their lives. The genial Natekar, 77, appreciated Badminton 45's gesture. “Thanks for remembering the past players; that's all we need. I'm very happy to be here with the young champions,” said Natekar.
Described as a magician with the racket, Natekar recalled the good times he has experienced at the gymkhana located at the South end of Azad Maidan. He won his sixth and last national singles title at the gymkhana's badminton hall in 1965 and also the inaugural G.D.Birla Memorial Masters event.
“It's an unforgettable day for me to be amongst so many legends of Indian badminton. I'm trying to get fit for the All England championship. My ankle is still strapped, but I feel better. My aim is to play consistently well in the tournaments including the World Championship,'' said Saina, who received Rs. 1 lakh for winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
Thanks to Badminton 45's silver jubilee celebration, the lovely occasion brought together the 80-year-old Suman Deodhar-Athavale, daughter of cricket legend, Prof. D.B.Deodhar and national women's singles winner in 1951-52 and India's latest sensation 20-year-old Saina Nehwal.
Suman paired with sister Tara in 42-43 and 43-44 and with another sibling Sunder in 46-47, 47-48 and 51-52 and 54-55 to win the women's doubles titles.
It's time to reflect on happy memories of the past and applaud the present champions. Present were several time national singles champions like Sushila Rege-Kapadia (52-53, 53-54 and 58-59), Sarojini Apte-Gogte (66-67, 67-68), Shobha Moorthy (71-72), seven time winner Ami Ghia (73-74 to 76-77, 79-80, 80-81 and 83-84), eight time winner Madhumita Bisht (81-82, 84-85 to 90-91) and a record nine-time winner Aparna Popat (97-98 to 2005-06). Aditi Mutatkar, the recent winner, completed the powerful presence of nine national singles champions who have dominated for three and half decades.
Maureen Mathias, who won the doubles title four times each with Shobha Moorthy and Ami Ghia and once with Vatsala Ramamoorthy and the mixed doubles title twice with Asif Parpia and three times with Suresh Goel (all from 1969-70 to 76-77) added to the charm. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, the Commonwealth Games winner, attracted due attention.
The stalwarts among the men — apart from Natekar and the All-England champions, Padukone and Pullela Gopichand — invited for the celebration were Chadrakant Deoras (doubles partner of Natekar, Goel and Romen Ghosh), Romen Ghosh, Anil Pradhan, Leroy D'Sa, Uday Pawar and Vimal Kumar.
After a light music entertainment show by Gaurav Bhangia and Amruta Natu, Rajashree Birla, wife of the late Aditya Birla, presented Lifetime Achievement awards to Natekar and Padukone.
Badminton 45 presented a cheque of Rs. 50,000 each to the close family members of George Lewis, Pearl Goss, T.N.Seth, Suresh Goel and Syed Modi. Others felicitated were Gopichand (Rs.2.5 lakh), Vimal Kumar (Rs.1.5 lakh), Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa (Rs.1 lakh each), Aparna Popat, Sushile Rege-Kapadia and Madhumita Bisht (Rs. 50,000 each).
‘COURTING Success — Icons of Indian badminton', a superb compilation of 24 select Indian stars from George Lewis to Saina Nehwal by Shirish Nadkarni was released. It's a collector's item with the foreword by Padukone.
