When a champion was tamed

With a couple of days to go for the premier badminton tournament of the domestic circuit – the Senior Nationals – it is time to take a walk down the memory lane. This event, held at THE DRRMC Indoor Stadium in Vijayawada, 34 years ago (in 1981), is still fresh in the minds of badminton buffs, for it created a history of sorts.

Then reigning champion and badminton superstar Prakash Padukone tasted defeat in the hands of up and coming late Syed Modi in the final in two straight games thus planting doubts about Prakash’s abilities to win the prestigious all England championships - second time.

“Mind you, Prakash won nine titles on a trot from 1972 and was preparing hard to retain the all England title which he won in 1980 defeating Indonesia’s Liem Swie King,” said senior administrator K. Ch. Punnaiah Choudary.

In front of the packed 3,500 of spectators, Prakash looked lost and committed several unforced errors to lose his crown 10-15, 9-15 to Syed Modi in a 45-minute lopsided final.

“We were shocked as we supported Prakash vociferously. May be he wilted under pressure and Syed Modi outpaced him,” said Ranjan Roy, a former State player.

Senior Sports Authority of India coach P.U. Bhaskar Babu said the change of shuttles was the reason for the defeat. “Until then he was playing abroad with international shuttles. He could not adjust to the flight and trajectory of the Indian shuttles. He also arrived late and played too many games in a short duration”.

Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association secretary K. Ch. Punnaiah Choudary said that weather also played a role in his fall. “He was training in Denmark which was the favourite destination for advanced training those days, along with renowned shuttler Morten Frost. He could not adjust to the hot and humid weather in Vijayawada as he was used to the cool environs of Copenhagen. Even the in-court weather was different”.

Many still recollect Modi dashing off to the opposite side to embrace stunned Prakash, who gracefully patted the back of Modi in appreciation. Incidentally, Prakash was housed at Hotel Mamata as the owner Mr. Gopala Rao, a well known Kannidaga, wanted to serve the champ with Kannada cuisine. Modi stayed at Hotel Manorama.