Was Prakash Padukone's Outrage At Badminton Stars Justified?
NDTV
In a viral rant, Prakash Padukone, the head coach of the Indian badminton contingent at Paris Olympics 2024, stated that it was "high time the players step up and win".
In a viral rant, Prakash Padukone, the coach of the Indian badminton contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024, stated that it was "high time the players step up and win". Padukone's remarks came after Lakshya Sen lost the men's bronze medal match to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, which ended India's hopes of clinching a badminton medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. Lakshya's defeat came after the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, one of the favourites to win a medal, also crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Padukone stated that players should also take some responsibility. "All the support and finances needed to perform at the top level were given to the Indian players. It's not like earlier times when our players lacked facilities and funds. So, it's high time our players step up and win as expected," Padukone told reporters.
Veteran shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa had issued a strong response to Padukone, saying that he shouldn't have thrown the players under the bus.
"Disappointing to see this. If a player wins, everyone jumps on the bandwagon to take credit, and if they lose, it's just the player's fault?!" Ponnappa wrote in an Instagram story.
Was Prakash Padukone's Outrage Justified?
