Former All England badminton champion Prakash Psdukone tells Rediff.com's Bikash Mohapatra that the focus ahead of the next Olympics should be on winning gold, and not just medals and there should be more support to athletes at the grasroots level.
Flag-bearers PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal will lead the 78-strong Indian contingent, representing 12 disciplines, on a historic journey down the Seine River.
Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen took to social media and said that his debut Olympics was both an honour and a heartbreak.
Tanvi Patri, 13, won the Under-15 girls' singles title at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Junior Championships.
Sindhu stands on the brink of history as she pursues the gold medal in the upcoming Games, having won a silver and bronze in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo edition respectively.
Even after increasing her fees, the daughter of badminton star Prakash Padukone poses a challenge to Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.
'In women's singles now, there are a lot of long rallies and long matches, being consistent. I am confident in that now.'
Saina Nehwal is a 'champion material' and in another three years, India can look forward to seeing a world number one in the Hyderabadi youngster, said legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone. Padukone, a former All England champion, pointed out that 17-year-old Saina has most of the qualities a champion needs -- physical, technical, mental and self-belief.
Badminton and cricket are two of his favourite sports. He was here with us for about an hour, Vimal Kumar said.
The former All-England badminton champion says he was in the dark about the formation of new Arjuna Awards panel.
Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi have joined hands to launch the Olympic Gold Quest Sports Foundation.
Expressing hurt over "lack of commitment" by some of India's top shuttlers, legendary badminton player Prakash Padukone has called for strict measures.
Badminton ace Prakash Padukone held out reasonably good hope for India's Beijing Olympic hopefuls Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal, saying their task of climbing the medal rostrum is difficult but not impossible.
Former Indian badminton ace Prakash Padukone will play in the the Legends Badminton Masters Reunion in Jakarta on Saturday.
Ten years ago, Prakash Padukone had predicted the rise of Lakshya Sen.
Meiraba, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, eliminated Denmark's Mads Christophersen
Lakshya Sen, who won both his matches to play his part in the silver medal-winning effort in men's team event, too dropped one spot to world number 15. Kidambi Srikanth gained a spot to 20th.
At 20, Saina Nehwal's shoulders bear the expectations and hopes of millions of sports fans among India's massive population.
Saina Nehwal has set such high standards that even a minor dip in form raises concerns, according to badminton legend Prakash Padukone, who believes the Indian shuttler will soon be back to her winning ways.
Legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone feels Anup Sridhar is one of India's best bets to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics. The Bangalore lad will be the country's lone men's singles challenger at the prestigious quadrennial event in Beijing.
After bringing home just two medals from the Rio Olympics, India needs to be realistic in its preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Games and should narrow its focus to a handful of sports, says former All England badminton champion Prakash Padukone. P.V. Sindhu's silver medal in the badminton women's singles and a bronze from wrestler Sakshi Malik at the Rio Games was considered a sorry return for a nation of 1.3 billion people. India have won a total of 28 medals since first competing at the Olympics in 1900 but a government think tank has come up with a strategy it hopes will help the country to 50 medals in 2024, including prioritising 10 sports.
Saina Nehwal, who has been struggling to replicate her superb run of 2010 when she won three Super Series women's singles crowns as well as the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, seems fractionally slower on her feet this year, feels former badminton ace PrakashPadukone.
Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com captures all the action at the Indian Sports Honours 2023 event in Mumbai on Thursday night.
In mixed doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila advanced to the second round with a 8-21, 21-19, 21-17 victory over Chinese Taipei's Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui.
'I have funded myself for tournaments until Nov last year, after which I was sent with the Indian team for tournaments as I met the selection criteria to make the team. I was included as part of TOPS scheme only after qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games till the Olympic Games, that's it.'
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Padukone attributed Sindhu and Saina's success to their physical abilities.
PV Sindhu says if she remains injury-free and in peak physical condition, she will aim for a third medal.
Earlier on Tuesday, Aam Aadmi Party had demanded that the Indian cricket team should opt-out of its match against Pakistan in ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai.
'If I want to achieve something -- and my aim is to achieve the Olympic gold -- then I would do anything for it. It means everything to me.'
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India's Lakshya Sen got off the a rousing start at the Olympics, beating Guatemala's Kevin Cordon 21-8, 22-20 in the men's singles badminton competition on Saturday.
'It was tough financially for the first few years but my friends and family supported me and once he did well at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, there was no looking back.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed Kidambi Srikanth's silver medal win in the World Badminton Championships, saying it will inspire several sportspersons and further interest in badminton.
Set to return after an injury-induced break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is aware the road to Paris will be "challenging" and she needs to be "smarter" in her pursuit of coveted gold medal in the French capital.
Asked about Saina Nehwal, whose 2012 London Games bronze medal winning show was a path breaker for Indian women's badminton, Padukone is confident that the 26-year-old former World number one will be regain her best form.
Asked if the cancellation of the first match's result had any impact on him, Sen said, "I just took it as a practice match; now it is time for me to just focus on one match at a time. I will rest, recover and try to be at my best against Christie.
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Former All England champion Prakash Padukone tipped PV Sindhu to be the world number one in the near future, but Saina Nehwal's coach Vimal Kumar was of the view that both the Olympic medallists could dominate world badminton in the next 5-7 years. While Saina became the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic medal - a bronze - at 2012 London Olympics, Sindhu did one better by winning a historic silver at the Rio Games this year. "Definitely, Sindhu is capable of reaching the number one place," Padukone told reporters at the Olympic Gold Quest workshop for junior athletes in Bengaluru.
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