Prakash Padukone is a former badminton player. He was ranked World No 1 in 1980, the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He is one of the Co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India.
After his retirement from competitive sport in 1991, Padukone served as the Chairman of the Badminton Association of India for a short time. He also served as the coach of the Indian National Badminton Team from 1993-96.
After retirement, Padukone has sought to mentor budding young players and help them achieve. He runs the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy and he co-founded the Olympic Gold Quest with Geet Sethi.
Prakash Padukone recently found a different sort of fame when a letter he wrote to his two daughters, a Bollywood actress and a golfer, went viral. The letter has now been included in the English curriculum of a school. In the letter he offers advice to his daughters, asking them to make sure that they love what they do in life, be game-changers and still understand that at the end of the day, it is family and friends that matter.
Prakash Padukone is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri Award by the Government of India.
