The Hindu : Sport / Badminton : A warm welcome for an old friend

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Sunday, Oct 15, 2006
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A warm welcome for an old friend

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: It was a memorable reunion of two badminton legends. Prakash Padukone and Morten Frost, who shared an enduring friendship and a healthy rivalry in their halcyon days, came together again, after a gap of 23 years at the KBA Stadium here on Saturday.

Morten Frost, a four-time All-England champion and former world no.1 arrived here to conduct a coaches clinic under the auspices of the Karnataka Badminton Association. Little did he realise that he would get such an affectionate and warm welcome from the badminton aficionados and of course from his old pal, Prakash Padukone, who on behalf of KBA placed a `Mysore Peta' (headgear) on Frost.

"I am extremely pleased to be here and meeting Prakash after all those years in his home town. It brings back all the good memories," said Frost. The Danish legend, accompanied by his wife Charlotte and young daughter Josephine, said that he was looking forward to a fruitful stint with the coaches here. "I look forward to my interaction with the coaches and the youngsters and I can share my knowledge and talk about my concepts," said Frost.

Frost spoke about changes in the game and felt that the new scoring system has forced players to adopt an attacking style. "Everybody is in a hurry to finish off the rallies and there is not much of deception or a good defence, that marked our games," said the maestro.

Biggest casualty

The biggest casualty of the new format and present trend was the lack of variety. "In our days, we had different styles of play and each one was different and unique in his own way. To me everyone was a tough opponent, whether it was Prakash, Rudy Hartono or Liem Swie King and each one had to be played on his merit, but I don't see that kind of trend now," said Frost.

Frost hoped that many talented youngsters would emerge from India. "After Prakash, there was a big gap and I now see the emergence of promising players and the one (Arvind Bhat), who beat Kenneth Johannson recently, showed his class. I hope more Indians make their mark on the World stage," said Frost.

Frost was quizzed on the speculation that he was able to beat Prakash Padukone only after he learnt the Indian's `tricks' during Prakash's six-year training stint in Denmark. " Yes, I learnt from Prakash a lot. He was the first guy who told me how to size up my rivals and play accordingly with them. We were sparring partners for quite a long time and I guess we learnt from each other," Frost said.

Prakash Padukone, in turn said: "Morten had it in him and he would have beaten me even if I had not trained with him. But he was able to do it much earlier than the normal course of time. I too gained from him." Recalling his friendship with Morten, Prakash gratefully acknowledged the Dane's gesture of playing exhibition ties in Bangalore in 1983 to raise funds for the Canara Union courts in Malleswaram. "I still cherish those moments, we had a full house of 2000 spectators. We had a similar attitude and believed in dedication, determination and discipline. He was amazingly consistent and he is a perfect example and role model for a lot of aspiring youngsters here," said Prakash.

A re-run of the Prakash-Morten clash will unfold at the KBA on Sunday evening as they play each other in an exhibition tie partnering few other former players, including Vimal Kumar and Vinod Kumar.

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