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The Indian cricketing legend, Sunil Gavaskar, came out in support of badminton coach Prakash Padukone after his frank assessment of India’s performance at the Paris Olympics 2024. After Indian shuttlers failed to win a medal in Paris, Prakash Padukone wanted them to take responsibility and accountability for their performances after receiving ample support, which led to some division in the badminton community.
Notably, in the bronze medal match in the men’s singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics 2024, Lakshya Sen was a game and 8-3 up against Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia. But, in the crunch moments, the young shuttler let the match slip away from his grasp, losing out on a bronze medal with a scoreline of 21-13, 16-21, 11-21.
Prakash Padukone, who was sitting on the sidelines as a coach, watching Lakshya Sen play at the Paris Olympics 2024, spoke about how it’s high time for the players to learn about withstanding pressure, become accountable for their performances, and start delivering results on the world stage after getting support from officials. It led to some criticism coming the way of the former All England Open champion with doubles player Ashwini Ponnappa remarking that it’s as if he threw the player under the bus.
Making excuses is where our country will win gold medals: Sunil Gavaskar
In his recent column with Sportstar, Sunil Gavaskar shared his thoughts on the comments made by Prakash Padukone in the aftermath of the Paris Olympics 2024 debacle. He said, “Making excuses is where our country will win gold medals every single time, so the debate around his assessment was more about that than looking without tinted glasses at what he (Prakash Padukone) said.”
"And what did he say? He said that the players today get all the backing and facilities from their Federations and the government too. Therefore, they should take responsibility for their performances too,” added the former ODI World Cup winner.
Sunil Gavaskar also wasn’t pleased with Lakshya Sen’s performance in the bronze medal match at the Olympic Games 2024, and said, “When it came to the crunch, Lakshya was, in the famous words of the Indian cricket team captain, “garden mein ghoomne wala.”
