Prakash Padukone Blames Athletes For Poor Show At The Olympics: Justified Or Too Harsh?

Prakash Padukone, in his illustrious playing days,  even though he was an aggressive player wasn't exactly known for powerful smashes. His game was built more on speed, accuracy and athleticism. But from time to time, he used to uncork the hard-hitting game to drive across some message.

That's what he seems to be doing even long after his retirement as evidenced by his no-nonsense utterances in Paris yesterday (5 August).  The coach and mentor of the Indian badminton team, without ever looking flustered or angry, came down hard on India's performance in the Olympics.

"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," the 1980 All England Champion said immediately after Lakshya Sen's agonising defeat at the hands of Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the Bronze medal match.

Padukone was scathing and unforgiving of the players in his summation. That he was speaking in the immediate aftermath of Lakshya Sen's inexplicable performance in the last segment of his match against Lee Zii Jia can possibly be the extra edge in Padukone's words.

For, Lakshya just lost his grip in the match — in which he won the first game and was comfortable for the most part in the second game, too — in a manner that was difficult to fathom. Was it a case of nerves? Was it because he had a sudden attack of the badminton equivalent of spinner's yips? Was it something physical?

Whatever it may have been, it did not make for pleasant viewing. Even those who were feeling Lakshya Sen's performance to be quite heroic at the Games couldn't wrap their heads around what was unfolding at the badminton arena in the Paris Olympics yesterday.

As we said, it kind of explained the mood in the Indian camp, which has already seen too many so-near-so-far kind of misses in this Olympics.  Arjun Babuta, mixed team in archery, Manu Bhaker, Nishant Dev, Lovlina Borgohain and the mixed team in skeet shooting were all almost a whisker away from winning a bronze or even progressing further.

But they all faltered to deceive. Lakshya Sen had his moments against the eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen. And against Lee Zii Jia, he virtually had a medal for the taking, but the occasion seemed to have gotten to him.

Did Padukone Throw Lakshya Sen Under The Bus?

Anyway, while the usually mild-toned Padukone did not mince words about players needing to step up and be counted when the occasion demanded, there were others who felt that the coach need not have started the firing immediately after a dispiriting loss.

The gist of the criticism against Padukone is: There is a time and occasion for criticism and throwing one's star player under the bus without waiting for the dust of the competition to settle is not professionalism.

Lakshya Sen, mind you was unseeded at the Games, and in a sense, was punching above his weight all through. But having said that a coach, especially a discerning one like Padukone, would know what will work with his ward.    

Well, you can always debate endlessly about the timing of the outburst. But what is beyond argument is the inherent truth in what he said. Not just badminton players, it applies to the entire Indian contingent at the Games on the whole.

"At least for the results in this Olympics and the previous one, you cannot hold the federations and government responsible for the results. They have all done whatever they can. Ultimately the responsibility is on the players to go and deliver when it matters the most," Padukone pointed out.

"The players need to introspect, and not just keep asking for more from the federations. They need to ask themselves whether they are working hard enough, because all of these players have their own physios and all the facilities. I don’t think any other country, including the US, has so many facilities."

Same Old Question: If China Can, Why India Can’t?

After every Olympics, say from 1984 Los Angeles, there has been this rigamarole: Why can't India be good at the Olympics? It is not as if these types of questions were not raised before 1984, but in that particular Games one of India's neighbours, China, made a major impact.

From being a total outsider to the traditional sporting superpowers (like the US, Germany, Great Britain and Australia), China became a global star in the sporting arena and has not looked back since then.  If China can do it, why can't India?

This line of thinking launched thousands of impassioned debates and editorials. And in 1988, at its home Seoul, South Korea also struck sporting glory, the assessment of India's mediocrity at the Games became even more incessant.

Other Asian nations like Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have also had relative successes from time to time. But India's time has not really come, if you want to be honest.

Leander Paes' bronze in Atlanta, Karnam Malleswari's bronze in Sydney, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore silver in Athens were no more than aberrations.

Even Abhinav Bindra's epoch-making gold in Beijing looked to be a result of individual obsession and dedication rather than an outcome of sporting greatness in a country. 

India, A Work In Progress

India is still far away from being a sporting power, and the question that became insistent in 1984 is still valid.

The answers, as we have seen, over the years, hold water at least partially even now. India does not have a great sporting ethos. Box ticked. We celebrate actual winning more than sporting excellence. Box ticked. Indian sportspersons lack killer instinct and develop fright at the big stage. Box ticked. Indian sporting officialdom is politicised. Box ticked. 

But towards the middle of the last decade, the Indian sporting officialdom did start to get its act together. To be sure, there are issues with many sporting organisations. But overall, the climate of sickening inefficiency and shambolism is removed.

The best ever performance in Olympics — seven medals including the watershed gold in javelin from Neeraj Chopra — came three years ago in Tokyo. No surprises there.

As Padukone said the federations are a  lot different now, and the facilities and the training apparatus are indeed world class at least in pockets of India.

Players are also exposed to every kind of world competition, and Indian sportspersons' good show in a variety of world cups and championships confirm this.

Anyway, we are still staring at another unsatisfactory Games show. Irrespective of what happens from now on, the room for disappointment is there.  So what is it that is holding us back?

Just like RCB doing everything possible but still falling short every year at the IPL, India's quest at the Olympics is disquieting. And the reasons are hard to nail.

But we have moved from blaming the federations to pinning the fault on players.

Maybe, we are getting closer to the nub of the issue. Or maybe not. We will perhaps know at the next Games 2028, which incidentally, and appropriately, is in Los Angeles.

Perhaps another Asian nation will come of age in a sporting sense there.