Indian · Bengaluru, India · Born 10 June 1955Prakash Padukone is an Indian badminton legend who became the first Indian to win the prestigious All England Open and reach World No. 1, putting Indian badminton on the international map.
Prakash Padukone's 1980 All England Open victory — defeating two-time defending champion Liem Swie King of Indonesia without dropping a game — made him the first Indian ever to win the title and placed him at world number one, a position no Indian man had occupied before him.. He won the national junior title in 1971 at 16, and went on to win the Indian national senior championship for nine consecutive years through 1979, an unmatched run of dominance. Padukone won the singles gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, and after a foot injury forced him to withdraw from the 1979 All England Open, returned in career-best form in 1980, winning the Danish Open and Swedish Open in the weeks beforehand. At the All England Championships, badminton's most prestigious annual event at the time, he defeated top seed Morten Frost in the semifinal and defending two-time champion Liem Swie King of Indonesia in the final without dropping a game, becoming the first Indian ever to win the title and rising to World No. 1. Padukone continued his success by winning the first-ever World Cup in 1981 in Kuala Lumpur and adding a World Championship bronze medal in 1983. He retired from competitive play in 1991, having established India as a genuine force in world badminton for the first time, and went on to found the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru in 1994, which developed future stars including Pullela Gopichand. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982, and remains a co-founder of the Olympic Gold Quest foundation supporting Indian Olympic sport.
First Indian to win the All England Open and reach World No. 1
How They Played
Graceful, elegant player renowned for footwork, court coverage, and tactical intelligence
Lasting Impact
Widely regarded as the pioneer of modern Indian badminton, whose academy went on to produce Pullela Gopichand and other national stars
Career Honours
- All England Open champion (1980), first Indian to win the title
- World No. 1 (1980), first Indian to achieve the ranking
- Commonwealth Games gold, men's singles (1978)
- World Championship bronze (1983)
- 9x consecutive Indian national champion (1971-1979)
Indian Athletes