New Delhi: From the legendary Prakash Padukone to the late Syed Modi, the venue for the BWF World Championships here carries a rich legacy of Indian badminton. Back in the day, the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, then known as the Indraprastha Indoor Stadium, was the country’s only air-conditioned venue for badminton and witnessed some of the sport’s most memorable moments.
Modi won a singles bronze, India’s first individual badminton medal at the Asian Games, after a fantastic run that included a clash with Indonesian legend Liem Swie King. Though Modi lost that closely fought match, his bronze marked a significant moment for Indian badminton. He lost a very close match to Liem Swie King.
Padukone was deemed ineligible as he was then a professional player. They overcame strong teams such as Japan and Thailand and broke into the top eight badminton nations. Padukone stepped up in singles and doubles, where he partnered Uday Pawar, while Modi and a young U Vimal Kumar handled the singles responsibilities and produced some big wins. Those were big teams. Prakash played doubles with Uday Pawar, and I played the second singles with Modi. The big indoor arena also had a unique feature — a partition that could be lowered to make the huge hall more compact for badminton. “After the Asian Games, there were many badminton competitions hosted at this venue. In those days, having an air-conditioned stadium was a big deal. There used to be a partition that would come down, and it was huge. We have played many matches, from the Thomas Cup to the National Championships. That was a big moment and a great match. That’s one of the best matches he played against Liem Swie King.”
The 1982 Asian Games was one such occasion. India went on to win five bronze medals in 1982 Asiad. Another historic moment came during the 1988 Thomas Cup qualification, when India beat Japan to emerge the Asian Zone winner. “We qualified for the Thomas Cup Final in 1988, beating Japan and Thailand. The venue had hosted the Asian Zone Thomas Cup qualification in 1984 as well with Padukone and Modi competing. “Syed Modi’s achievement was the biggest, winning a bronze medal at the 1982 Asian Games. He was leading 13-7 in the third game, and then from there, he lost.
“It was a big moment for Indian badminton back then,” recalls Vimal. That was Modi’s last Thomas Cup,” Vimal told HT.
