Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol XXXI No. 20, February 1-15, 2022
When Prakash, 16, was the buzz of the sporting fraternity
by Partab Ramchand
As the quiz master during the Madras Week Sports Quiz that I conducted for a few years one of my favourite questions was this: “He won his first national singles title as a 16-year-old here in the city in February 1972 and went on to become a legendary Indian sportsman. Name him.” No one ever got the right answer.
It is now 50 years since Prakash Padukone pulled off that remarkable feat. I well remember the events of the tournament which was held at the old corporation indoor stadium next to the old Nehru stadium and near the Central Station. Prakash, tall and slim was considered as just another talented youngster. He had come with the Karnataka (then Mysore) team and was tipped to take the national junior title. This he duly did but by that time he had become the talk of the badminton fraternity.
Prakash took part in the senior event too and the general feeling was that he would win a match or two. The first surprise came in the pre-quarterfinal when he got the better of the vastly experienced K.K. Cheema. This put him up against the defending champion Suresh Goel who had always been his idol. Goel had won the national singles title five times and predictably enough was overwhelming favourite. But mentally strong and physically very fit Prakash matched the Indian great stroke for stroke and after losing the first game he took the second. In the decider Goel led 5-2 only for Prakash to go ahead 11-8. Showing no signs of nerves he maintained the lead and took the game 15-11. The applause from the packed crowd was loud and long. It was one of the greatest upsets in Indian badminton history.
Could his dream run continue was now the debating point. Popular opinion had it that it would end in the semifinals where he was to meet a crafty and experienced campaigner in Romen Ghosh particularly as side by side Prakash was taking part in the juniors event. That day he had to play three matches – junior singles semifinal, junior doubles final and the match against Romen Ghosh. He won the junior semifinal before taking on Ghosh. Prakash had already been stung to the quick by a senior player remarking that his victory over Goel was a ‘fluke’. A determined Prakash retorted “I shall show them tomorrow”. Again he lost the first game but Prakash was ruthless in the second taking it for the loss of just two points. Just before the decider started there was a power failure. It was absolutely dark in the stadium, it got pretty stuffy and the crowd was getting restless. As soon as the lights came on after half an hour the match resumed and Prakash because of the break had lost the momentum. Ghosh raced to a 11-4 lead, just four points away for a spot in the final. But the lead evaporated as Prakash suddenly found his touch back. The crowd went wild with excitement. Here was a kid taking on a veteran and they were vociferously for the underdog. Prakash took the decider and suddenly he was in the men’s singles final along with the junior singles final.
The following day he was up against Punjab’s Devinder Ahuja, another surprise finalist who had got the better of Romen’s brother Dipu in the other semifinal. The packed stadium was rooting for Prakash who again lost the first game. He however fought back to take the second. The decider had the spectators cheering for every point as fortunes fluctuated. Prakash took a 5-0 lead only for Ahuja to level and then go ahead 13-10. Two points away from a title triumph Ahuja faltered and Prakash drew level. The game now went to extra points and Prakash went ahead 14-13. Ahuja leveled but then Prakash surged ahead to be up 17-14. He had match point but now he faltered and Ahuja drew level at 17. He now had a match point which Prakash saved. Then Prakash had a match point which Ahuja staved off. Finally Prakash served and Ahuja made a high return. Prakash decided to leave it and the shuttle fell over the line by inches. The spectators were up on their feet shouting and cheering and hailing the new champ. Amazingly a 16-year-old from Mysore has won the men’s singles title. Incidentally half an hour after the men’s final he took the court again for the junior final which he won in straight games.
Suddenly he was the buzz in the badminton, nay sporting, fraternity of the country. Great things were predicted for him and for once Prakash Padukone over the next decade and more fulfilled all those expectations to become a legendary Indian sportsman. But he will never forget where it all started – the corporation indoor stadium in Madras in February 1972.
