Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is an Indian former badminton player and coach. In 1980 he became the first Indian to win the All England Championship, then the most important title in the sport, and was ranked number one in the world. After retiring he founded an academy and a foundation that have helped produce many of India’s later champions. He is the father of the actress Deepika Padukone.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Prakash Padukone |
| Born | 10 June 1955, Bangalore |
| Age | 71 |
| Sport | Badminton |
| Major titles | All England Championship (1980), Commonwealth Games gold (1978), World Cup (1981), Danish Open and Swedish Open (1980) |
| World Championships | Bronze medal (1983) |
| National titles | Nine in a row (1971–1979) |
| Awards | Arjuna Award (1972), Padma Shri (1982) |
| Spouse | Ujjala Padukone |
| Children | 2 |
Early Life
He was born in Bangalore into a Konkani-speaking family. His father, Ramesh Padukone, was for many years the secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association, and introduced his sons to the game. There were few proper courts; he practised in a marriage hall when no wedding was being held.
Career
National champion
In 1971, at sixteen, he won the national junior title and, in the same year, the senior title, the youngest player to do so. He held the national championship for nine consecutive years.
The style
He began as an attacking player. Around 1980 he changed his game, relying on deception, delicate net play, control and patience, and it took him to the top.
International success
- **1978:** gold medal in the men’s singles at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton
- **1980:** the Danish Open, the Swedish Open and, in March, the All England Championship at Wembley, where he beat the Indonesian Liem Swie King, the defending champion, in straight games in the final. He was ranked world number one.
- **1981:** the first World Cup, in Kuala Lumpur
- **1983:** bronze medal at the World Championships in Copenhagen, the first by an Indian
He moved to Denmark in the early 1980s to train with the best European players. He retired from international badminton in 1991.
After Playing
Administrator and coach
He served briefly as chairman of the Badminton Association of India and as national coach.
The academy
In 1994, with the former international Vimal Kumar and others, he founded the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore. Among the players who have trained there are Pullela Gopichand, who won the All England title in 2001, Aparna Popat and Lakshya Sen, whom he mentored at the Paris Olympics of 2024.
Olympic Gold Quest
In 2001 he and the billiards champion Geet Sethi founded Olympic Gold Quest, a non-profit foundation that funds and supports Indian athletes with a chance of Olympic medals. It has backed many of India’s medallists since 2012.
Honours
- Arjuna Award, 1972
- Padma Shri, 1982
- Lifetime Achievement Award of the Badminton Association of India, 2018
Personal Life
He married Ujjala, a travel agent. Their elder daughter, Deepika Padukone, born in Copenhagen in 1986, is one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema, and their younger daughter, Anisha, is a golfer. He is known as a reserved and modest man who avoids publicity. A biography, Touch Play, tells the story of his career.
Featured image: Prakash Padukone at the Tata Open badminton championship in Mumbai, 2009. Photo by Mussarat Kang, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
