Badminton legend Prakash Padukone awarded the SJFI medal 2019
If you are a badminton follower, you would definitely know about the legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone. Recently, he was awarded the SJFI or the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India medal for the year 2019. The coveted award was conferred to Padukone at a prestigious ceremony held at Karnataka State Cricket Association in presence of several contemporary Indian sport stars including cricket legend G.R. Vishwanath, former Indian batting icon V.V.S. Laxman, hockey celebrities Dhanraj Pillay and Arjun Halappa, table tennis star Vasanth Bharadwaj and badminton’s very own Trupti Murgunde. The event was presided over by A. Vinod, the President of SJFI.
In case you are wondering why 2019 medal was offered in 2022, the answer is in front of you: The Covid-19 pandemic that prolonged the delay.
Prakash Padukone: A sneak peek into his career
Badminton rose to the status of the ‘second-most popular sport in India’ after cricket, partially due to Prakash Padukone. Born on 10th June 1955, this former Indian badminton champion was introduced to the game by his father Ramesh Padukone, who was the Secretary of the Mysore Badminton Association during the mid-20th century. His first official win was at 1962 Karnataka State Junior Championship, after which there was no looking back for this sporting legend.
Fast forward to 1980, he was the World Number 1 throughout that year, a rare feat in itself. In fact, he was the 1980 All England Open Badminton Champion as well. Recipient of the Arjuna Award of 1972, Padukone is one of the co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation dedicated to promoting Olympics in India.
Some of his career highlights include: Winning gold medals at 1981 Kuala Lumpur World Cup (Men’s Singles category) and at 1978 Commonwealth Games (Men’s Singles category. He also won the sole silver medal of his career in the 1983 Asian Championships (Men’s Team). His bag of accolades also has six coveted bronze medals won at several international badminton tournaments.
SJFI Medal: A bird’s eye view
The Sports Journalists’ Federation of India or the SJFI Medal saw the light of the day in 2018. It’s very first winner was distinguished Indian sports commentator Vijay Amritraj. While the 2019 medal was recently awarded to Prakash Padukone, the 2020 is still awaited. However, in December 2021, SJFI medal for 2021 was given to cricket great Sunil Gavaskar. Sources has it that the winner of the 2022 Medal will soon be announced as well.
For those unaware, SJFI was established in February 1976 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It was formed by the collaborative efforts of sports personalities from Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. A year later, Chennai too joined the federation. However, it was only in 1979 that SJFI was affiliated to the World Sports Journalist Association.
The other SJFI awards include: SJFI sportsman of the year, SJFI sportswoman of the year, SJFI team of the year, SJFI para-athletes of the year (men and women categories) and SJFI Special Recognition Award.