latest news

Aditya Prakash Bags double Crown in the 33^rd Junior National Championships at Sivakasi

Aditya Prakash of Karnataka and a trainee of Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy won the Junior National Singles and Doubles title in the just concluded 33^rd Junior National Championships at Sivakasi.

Aditya Prakash, the Number 3 seed in the Championships upset the top seed Sumeet Reddy of Andhra Pradesh in straight games at 21-10, 21-8 in the Finals.

Aditya also won the doubles crown with partner Prateek Patel beating Jaya Jawahar & S Aravind of Andhra Pradesh.

NEW ZEALAND JUNIOR TEAM TO TRAIN IN PRAKASH PADUKONE BADMINTON ACADEMY

New Zealand junior team comprising of 6 Boys, 5 Girls and 3 officials will be training in Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) for a week from 18th October. The team is currently in Pune competing in the Youth Commonwealth Games. New Zealand team will be training with Academy’s junior players and also will be playing a friendly match against them on Monday 20th at Karnataka Badminton Stadium courts. This is a party of their preparation towards World Junior Badminton Championships to be held in Pune from 25th October to 2nd November. The New Zealand team will return to Pune to compete in World Junior Badminton Championships on 23rd October.
 

Ajay Jayaram Wins his first International Title

One of the India’s promising youngsters and trainee of our Academy 21 year old Ajay Jayaram won his maiden International tournament title in Men Singles category in Waikato International at Hamilton, New Zealand this Sunday. The International series event had players from Japan, Scotland, Australia, India and New Zealand participating in them. Ajay beat his Academy mate 16 year old Prakash Jolly in the finals in 2 straight games (21-11, 21-14). In the quarterfinals Ajay faced stiff competition from Japanese youngster Rei Sato. Ajay prevailed 17-21, 21-11, 21-19 in a close 3 setter.

Prakash Jolly another youngster of our Academy gave good account of himself in his first international event beating New Zealand No.2 Joe Wu in two straight games (21-14, 21-13).

In the womens category, young Indian girls Ruth Misha and Neha Padnit lost to Japanese players. Ruth Misha lost in the quarterfinals to Chie Umezu (Japan) 21-12, 21-9 and Neha Pandit lost in the Semi Finals to eventual Winner Ayaka Takahashi (Japan) 21-13, 21-10.

These youngsters along with Coach Tom John will now move to Auckland next to play in the Auckland International (11 – 14 September).

Anup gets Arjuna Award

India no.1 Anup Sridhar, a trainee of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, received the Arjuna Award from President Prathibha Patil at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29.

The award was in recognition of Anup's efforts during an outstanding season in 2007, when he reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships at Kuala Lumpur, beating then-Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and former All England winner Hafiz Hashim. Anup lost to eventual champion Lin Dan of China in the quarterfinals.

His other accomplishments during 2007 were the semifinals of the German Open and the Asian Continental Championships and the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open. These performances helped him to a career-high ranking of 24 early this year.

List of awardees

• Khel Ratna Award: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket)
  
• Arjuna Awards: Chitra K Soman (Athletics), Anup Sridhar (Badminton), Johnson Varghese (Boxing), Harika Dronavalli (Chess), Arjun Atwal (Golf), Prabhjot Singh (Hockey), Tombi Devi (Judo), Bajranglal Takhar (Rowing), Avneet Kaur Sidhu (Shooting), Alka Tomar (Wrestling), Farman Basha (Power Lifting, Disabled category)
  
• Dhyan Chand Awards: Hakam Singh (Athletics), Mukhbain Singh (Hockey), Gian Singh (Wrestling)
  
• Dronacharya Awards: Sanjeeva Kumar Singh (Archery), Jagdish Singh (Boxing), G E Sridharan (Volleyball), Jagminder Singh (Wrestling)
  
• Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Capt. M.S. Kohli (LifeTime Achievement Award), Nb. Sub. Mohinder Singh & Sub. Neel Chand (Land Adventure Award), Air Commdr. T.K. Rath (Air Adventure)