The reigning men's national badminton champion, Pullela Gopi Chand
has become a more  mature
player over the years. He is one of the few players in the world who
has a blend of aggressive stroke play and impressive footwork. This
agile player is capable of defeating any player in the world. His
game is electrifying to watch. He is only next to Prakash Padukone
in terms of stardom.
Ranked 7 in the world, his performance in international tournaments
is steadily improving and he continues to enthral badminton fans all
over the country.
He bagged the first Nationals when he was just 17. His
performance in the last eight years was finally recognised by the
Indian Government and he was awarded the Arjuna Award
on August 29, 2000. The award was a tribute to his hard work, commitment
and discipline to the game.
His success can be attributed to his coach Syed Mohammed Arif,
who groomed the player in him. Gopi holds his former coach in great
respect because it was Mohammed Arif who trained him to be the world-class
player he is today.
Some of his landmark achievements:
Bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games
Won the Scottish International Open at Edinburgh
Sterling performances in Malaysian Open and Uber Cup
Recently, Gopi Chand was in Bangalore. Our Sports Correspondent,
J.Vinay caught up with him at the courts of Prakash
Padukone Badminton Academy and spoke to him about India's chances
of winning a medal at the Olympics.
Click here for the interview
| Aparna
Popat - A graceful player |
 The
reigning Women's Singles National Badminton Champion, Aparna
Popat is one of the finest badminton players in the world. Her graceful
movements on the court, her deft half volleys and her immense concentration
make her stand apart from the rest.
She took up the sport of Badminton at the age of 8 and by the time
she was 13, winning National level and State level tournaments
became a habit. While staying in Mumbai, she was trained by
her dedicated coach Anil Pradhan for 8 years. Under his able
guidance, she developed the skill required to face many challenges
of the game. As Prakash Padukone was setting up a badminton
academy to provide a platform for budding badminton players, Aparna
came to the city six years ago and she has now made Bangalore her
home to pursue her badminton career.
A professional player par excellence, she sweats out hard four hours
every day at the courts of BPL Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy.
This fine-looking Mount Carmelite has a zest for life. And
her first love is badminton and nothing else.
Landmark Achievements:
Winner of Women's Singles in French Open, Paris
Gold medal at the SAARC championships
Gold medallist at the Asian Satellite in Colombo
Bronze Medal - Prince Junior Badminton Invitation Tournament, Hong
Kong in1996
Runner-up in the World Junior Championship at Denmark in 1996
Represented India in the Uber Cup
Played in All England Championships and other tournaments in the European
circuit
Represented the country in the Sydney Olympic Games 2000
Click here for the interview
 Prakash
Padukone is a Commerce graduate from Bangalore University. Born in
1955, he won his first major title - National Junior Championship
in 1970. India's senior champion for nine years, he was unbeatable
from 1971 to 1979.
Winning performances: Commonwealth Games Gold medal
(Canada 1978), first prize - Money Tournament, English Masters
(London 1979), Danish Open, Swedish Open and All
England Championships (1980). He became a licensed player in 1980,
moving to Copenhagen. He won the first Alba Cup (Malaysia-1981),
first Indian Open Prize Money Tournament (Pune-1981), Dutch
Open (1982), Bronze medal (World Championships Copenhagen-1983).
Awards: Highest award for sports - Arjuna Award (1972) and
Padmashree in 1982. He started a badminton academy (Prakash
Padukone Badminton Academy) in 1994 to help budding players. He
lives in Bangalore.
 It.
s all in the mind, they say. If you think you can do it, then you
can. Ranjini Ramanujam is one determined person. She continues
to amaze, irrespective of the trials and tribulations of life.
Ranjini was born in 1977, with congenital neural hearing loss.
This means that she was almost completely deaf and was not be able
to hear human speech even with the help of the most powerful hearing-aids.
Consequently, as a child, her ability to acquire speech was seriously
impaired as hearing is a prerequisite for speech development. Defying
this natural linkage between hearing and speech, Ranjini has not only
mastered her mother tongue, but she has also learnt to speak in English.
The
cream in her pie is that she is academically gifted as well! She
got a first class in her CBSE & P.U.C and is presently doing
her final year B.Com at Mount Carmel. s College, Bangalore.
In 1994, when she was barely 17, she began learning badminton under
the able guidance of Ramesh Padukone, father of the national
champion, Prakash.
She won the gold medal in the national singles title and also the
silver medal for doubles in her debut in the 16th national games for
the deaf, held at Ooty in Jan 1997. She was also the first Indian
woman to win a medal in an individual event in . Silent Olympics.
on her debut. In July 1998 she won both the singles and the doubles
titles at the International Badminton Tourney for the deaf at Brixten,
Italy. Later, in recognition of her outstanding achievements and performances,
she was awarded with the 'ARJUNA AWARD' in 1998. Ranjini
received . The Outstanding Achiever Award. of the college
in the year 1999 and in the same year she represented the Bangalore
University Badminton team at the . All India Inter University Championship,.
competing against persons without any disability.
Ranjini attributes her success to the coaching given by Ramesh Padukone.
Her determination has taken her places and today she is leading a
charmed life, sharing common interests such as reading with her peers.
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