The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : Prakash's trip down memory lane

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2005

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Sport - Badminton

Prakash's trip down memory lane

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: It was a trip down memory lane for Prakash Padukone, who attended the Legends meet in Jakarata on July 17.

The Indian badminton maestro was a special invitee for the Legends get-together, which was attended by badminton greats such as Frost, Gunalan, Han Jian, Arbi, Sugianto, Hartono and others.

The meet was organised by Tan Joo Hock, who is building a badminton community of past masters in Indonesia.

"It was a highly enjoyable evening for all of us and we played best-of-five-point games and after 15 years, I played a singles match against Sumirat. We exchanged notes on the personal and professional lives and traded stories about playing days. It was indeed a trip down the memory lane for me," said Prakash Padukone.

He said a giant screen had been set up at the convention hall of the Exhibition Centre in downtown Jakarta, where 4,000 badminton fans gathered to cheer the masters.

For lot of the spectators, it was time to remember and recall the deeds of the masters and the function was capped by a cultural event, which featured pop singers of Indonesia and followed by a party.

"It is an event worth emulating and I hope the International Badminton Federation would organise such get-togethers for past stars. In tennis, they have Masters Tour and all stars of yesteryear keep in touch, but we need not have a tour as such, but let us at least have a platform, where we can meet each other again," said Padukone.

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